The Diary of Miura
by iEXIST
Summary: Life's a five lettered word that starts with a 'b' and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend. 5986 fic reuploading
1. A Heck of a Life

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #1 A Hell of Life**

Kyoko and I had been best friends for only God knows how long. Since middle school if I recall accurately. Somewhere later Chrome also entered the circle but nothing beat the bond that Kyoko and I had. We were joined to the hip, and very literally. It's not that we didn't like Chrome, it's that she was too busy most of the time to be with us. What with her being a Guardian and all, and since she was the only active female member in the family she felt that she had to prove herself more than the others. We completely understood that because every time we went to the Vongola HQ the guys started fussing about the danger we could get in being in their territory for so long, and it's only because we were _women_. They were never bothered when any other male came in looking the absolute harmless civilian part.

Chrome suddenly disappeared from the picture when Mukuro was set free. She spent so much time with him that it was equivalent or probably more than the total of all the time she'd spent with us. It hurt Yamamoto because –we all knew that- he really liked Chrome. He tried not to show it but it was painfully obvious. Tsuna tried consoling him but even poor Yamamoto didn't see what came next.

It hit us all like a bomb -a nuclear one- when Chrome got engaged to Kyoya. Out of all the people in the world, I never expected Chrome to end up with the ruthless skylark. They had nothing in common, they never hung out, they ignored each other for the most part and they very rarely got assigned on missions together. If anything, I was hoping she would accept Takeshi's proposal –which is impossible because she thought we were messing with her when we told her that he had the hots for her- or maybe get committed to Mukuro, who knows, but Hibari Kyoya?

When Chrome got free Kyoko and I invited her over to my place. I was surprised to see Chrome crying rivers. You would expect a newly engaged to be beaming and jumping all over the place but she looked horrible. She already was so delicate in appearance and now she looked like she was suffering from malnutrition. Turned out that the engagement wasn't her doing but was suggested by Reborn and imposed by the Guardians. We kept asking her why but she only replied by saying "It's for the best of the family". I had never seen Kyoko so furious and she really looked like she would punch Tsuna through the phone but Chrome begged her not to talk to anyone. I think I was in rage that night because Bianchi had held me down from breaking the door and running to my jeep to have it run all over the Vongola Decimo.

The closest answer we got out of her was that a problem had occurred at the Hibari household and something had happened to her at a recent mission. To kill two birds with one stone, the two were engaged. If you ask me it was the most wretched explanation anyone could give but we didn't bother her much after that because 1. Bianchi's brother was a Guardian and she could pry information out of him, 2. We could corner Lambo and force it out of him or 3. We could deploy I-pin to leak the info because Lambo never turned her down from anything and I really mean anything.

As it happened, luck wasn't on our side. Bianchi had inquired about it and Hayato told her pretty much nothing. We expected that much from Decimo's right hand man. The only thing he said was, "Chrome failed a mission and was nearly raped if Yamamoto and Mukuro hadn't appeared". That pretty much killed a part of our fire.

I-pin was more successful than any of us. She said that Hibari's relatives were very conservative and causing problems for him. They were eager for him to get married because they were passing the age and had him engaged to a cousin. Boss thought it would needlessly endanger a person who had nothing to do with the mafia, that, and Hibari disliked her. Hibari said he could break the agreement if he found a suitable wife. That's when Reborn proposed Chrome. Yamamoto disagreed and Mukuro was furious but Reborn shut him up by saying that if he wasn't prepared to settle down himself then he shouldn't interrupt. The Arcobaleno said that if she were to enter the Hibari name it would keep her safe for the most part because she was with the strongest Guardian of the strongest family and incase she got attacked she would be well suited to protect herself. Hibari took the idea. Then a fight broke out and I-pin ended with, "Sorry, but I'm not going to tell anymore. Lambo will be very upset with me"

I very much foresaw Chrome's wedding. We all did. Even though it happened quite a long time after the engagement, time pretty much flew by for me. I was busy with tutoring and then passing a degree exam and adjusting to my new job with an engineering firm. Then dad left overseas and I had to do shopping for my project and Chrome's gift. If Hayato hadn't helped out it would've taken me months to prepare my project but his connections and interest in my work helped me finish up in time for the wedding season. Kyoko and I also wanted to help with the wedding preparations but Chrome said that Hibari's family had it covered. Over the time that had passed the two Guardians became more acquainted with each other. It was relieving for us all.

Surprisingly, the wedding took place in Italy in open grounds surrounded by lush scenery and under a beautiful temporary hall and was a mixture of cultures –Hibari family's traditional way and the modern Christian way. I have only one word to say how the wedding went – horrible.

There were no maids or best man. The distinction was horribly prominent amongst the guests –The Hibari clan on one side and the rest (mafia) on the other- and no one mingled. Chrome was walked to the stage by Mukuro and Hibari didn't appear for half an hour. That had his family keyed up and they started leaving gradually. I was so proud of Chrome for keeping her composure. Kyoko noticed that the Vongola Seven were missing and I thought that the day couldn't get any worse. Hibari finally did come in and buoy did he receive a welcome! Everyone glared at him – myself included.

The formalities on the stage were done and we ushered Chrome to a far table with us. The instant she sat down all her tears fell. I-pin tried assuring her by saying that at least Hibari turned up despite his hatred of crowds and that's when Chrome cried out so painfully that Kyoko joined her crying party and I couldn't stop myself from sobbing either. "That wasn't Hibari-san, that was Fran!" I was paralyzed with shock and I had no words at that time. I can't express how I felt at that moment for the unfortunate girl. I cursed so loudly and so badly that the one thing that stopped me was Hayato's hand which had slapped onto my mouth.

I started thrashing instinctively and when I'd calmed down I was sitting on the carpeted grass between Hayato's legs with my back pressed against his chest and my mouth kept shut by his hand. It was Chrome's hand on my cheek that calmed me. I couldn't understand why she got hit with all the miseries in life. She was such a nice person. Even now when her worries were escalating she stopped to think about me and used her illusions to make me feel at ease when there was nothing tasteful about the situation.

Chrome kept herself strong after that. I think she was doing it for Kyoko and me. After all the drama we'd done at her wedding I don't think she wanted us entertaining any more of the family she was now a part of. I still wasn't finished.

When we were leaving a girl from the Hibari clan came alongside us to give her well wishes to Chrome. She looked me up and down and said, "You're the one" and she made a face that said something along the lines of ugly. I was about to fire guns back at her but Hayato suddenly popped up beside us.

"Yes, she's suffering from _…_ she had a seizure just then"

The girl scrunched her nose. "I expect no lesser diseased relatives of a one eye infected bride" She turned abruptly to Chrome. "You wouldn't last a month" And she whirled on her heels and was off. Kyoko tapped to get her attention. As she was about to give the girl a piece of her mind I first gave her mine and punched her. You wouldn't believe what happened. She stumbled and fell back and her nose was, well, broken.

I don't know why everyone started a turmoil. It was just a bleeding nose. Then an ambulance came on the scene and she was carried into it as if she'd just been dug out of rubble after three days. Tsuna dragged me to her to apologize and I gave her the middle finger after I said "You deserve worse, bitch" Hayato tried to keep his laughter and winked at me. I grinned back at him. Tsuna noticed the exchange.

"You should have stopped her Gokudera-kun"

"I'm sorry Tenth" He bowed respectfully. "I never foresaw it"_Pff._If Hayato had wanted to stop me there's no doubt he would have. The Guardians are lightening fast when they want to be. I could sense Tsuna was a little pleased I had given her a trip to the hospital but he hid it well. The way Mukuro was whispering things to Hibari –in reality Fran under an illusion- I could tell he was going to give the girl hell too.

Later I found out that she was Hibari's original fiancé or his ex. In all honesty, Chrome was so much prettier than her in each and every way. And the girl had a total bitch attitude too, no wonder Hibari jumped to take Chrome.

I-pin informed us of another behind the curtain story which she got from Lambo. Yamamoto Takeshi was **crying** and seriously crying. I was so shocked and Kyoko had her jaw hanging. I just couldn't picture the fun-loving man with tears falling down his cheeks and I guess neither could anyone else. She told us that Takeshi left the tent ten minutes after Chrome stood waiting on the stage for Hibari. Lambo went to get him back and then all the Guardians were gone to console him, Decimo included, Chrome excluded. Squalo broke into the men's lavatory and threw them all out, locking himself in with the Vongola Rain and that was the last of Takeshi they saw. He finally came out when the guests had all left. Chrome was long gone by then. Takeshi stood staring at the stage even as the boys wrapped things around him. He stood there until the stage was broken down and then he left.

I felt so sorry for Takeshi. If anything, he deserved Chrome and she deserved him. They would have made such a cute match; her innocence and his cool. He would have been the best husband to her, always keeping her under his guard, always pleasing her in every way he could and he would be asking for nothing in return. That's true love. If you ask me he could probably protect Chrome better than Hibari.

Just because Hibari had good looks, a good reputation, a strong family background and active muscles didn't make him a candidate for best husband. He was the worst ally in any case!

Even now as I think of Chrome I feel so bad. If Kyoko and I had tried something in our power we might have prevented the biggest mistake in the history of the world. That had been an act against humanity -against the freedom of women! Hayato and I talked over this once. He said life was unfair and I said bullshit! If it is then why is life unfair to all the good people? Why isn't unfairness punishing the scums out there? Is this God's way of playing jokes on people? I became so emotional that I broke down right then and there but I didn't want to make a mess of myself in my own work place so I kept all noises at a minimum.

Hayato had actually come to take a softcopy file he'd lend me. It was an interesting programme he'd built himself and I saw it in Lambo's computer. He was going overseas for mafia business so he came at my workplace to personally take the files before he left. We sat in the waiting room to have a chat and coffee and then started arguing as usual. When I was in tears I expected him to make fun of me as he used to when we were still young teenagers –because of that I hadn't dared shown any weakness in front of him- but he simply flopped down beside me and with his arm around my shoulder, pulled me towards his chest.

"Do you think a hungry shark will eat you if you fell in its waters?" He asked. I nodded. "Do you think he'll spare you if you said, 'Hey, I don't eat sea food so you can let me go now huh buddy?'?" I giggled between clearing away tears and shook my head. "So… Chrome just fell in the wrong waters…"

It was such a strange way of saying that nothing's fair. I guess things became less foggy after that. It can't be helped who falls off the boat and into the sea. Maybe it's fate or bad luck or a mistake or… intentional. "Sorry…" I mumbled. "I'm so embarrassed-"

"It's okay" He tenderly pressed his lips against my forehead. "If anything is ever bothering you, let me know" He slid his arm off my shoulder. "I don't want Kyoko telling me that her best friend became a lunatic because she used to bottle things up" The Smokin' Bomb laughed and ruffled my hair. I slapped away his hand. "Later, cry baby" He got up just in time to dodge my fist.

"Moron!" I taunted as he winked whilst exiting the door.

I didn't see him for a whole month after that.

Chrome's sudden commitment came as a surprise to us all but the most shocking thing for me in the entire world came after …

I was sitting at work and Kyoko dropped an envelope on my desk and asked me to open it. I was so busy I promised her I'd call her after I opened it. She became a bit upset but left in a neutral mood saying "Okay. I personally wanted us both to give these invitations out to everyone. But since your job is always keeping you so much I got Tsuna to accompany me"

I smirked up at her. "Sorry excuse Kyoko!"

She turned scarlet. "It's true!" And she rushed out of my cubicle. I opened it on the van back home. You can expect my surprise when I read this:

_To Mr Miura & Miss Miura Haru_

_You have been invited to the wedding ceremony of_

_Miss Sasagawa Kyoko D/O Mr. Sasagawa_

_To_

_Mr Sawada Tsunayoshi S/O Mr. Sawada Imetsu_

Venue, date and timings along with other formalities were written on bottom left and right.

Do you know what I felt like at the moment? I felt as if Kyoko was playing a horrible prank on me. I wanted to tear up the card and throw it around me and say 'Sorry Kyoko, I read your mind like a book and you can't play tricks on people'. An uncomfortable feeling started building inside my stomach and my hands started shaking. Kyoko would never play a joke this serious. This thing was actually happening. I don't know why but I felt so scared at that moment. My cell started vibrating and the caller ID said 'BFF Kyoko'. I silenced the call and shut off my phone.

When I got back home I made a call to Hana. "Of course I knew. She accepted the proposal ages ago, remember?" Hana said. "It was probably around the time Chrome was engaged"

So many words were stuck in my throat. I said 'thanks' to her and called Bianchi.

"Oh you got the invitation! What do you think? I designed it. I wanted it to be simple, as their love is. But I also wanted it to be beautiful and eye catching. I took both their favourite colours and put together some creative ideas from Kyoko's sketches. I think a marvelous thing turned out! The invitation card displays perfectly what their love does; bonding, understanding, beauty-"

I cut the call. They both saw this ceremony coming. They knew Kyoko was engaged. Why didn't I know she was engaged? She never told me. No one ever told me. I'm her best friend! I'm supposed to the first person she breaks this to. Their engagement is 'ages' old! Through this entire gap no one bothered telling me that she was engaged to Vongola Decimo. Oh God! I wanted to pound something.

I don't know why but I felt as if everyone had kept it from me intentionally. As if they didn't want me to know that Kyoko and Tsuna had literally become an item. If I'm not wrong I might not even have been invited to the ceremony if Kyoko hadn't had such a soft heart! Hayato always broke interesting news to me and he was all hush-hush over this too. And I-pin, she always keeps Kyoko and me up-to-date on the Vongola inside but even her…

Did they all still believe that I was interested in Tsuna? Maybe that's why … Ugh! That is the most stupid reason to keep a secret from someone.

I fell back on my sofa and gripped my bangs. In the whirl of emotions I rocked side to side as I wondered what to do.

If a person likes another person's boyfriend then that person just **has to be** **told**that 'Hey, guess what? The guy you like proposed to me so just fuck off him, ok?' That's how the law works. You turn on the red lights. You don't keep such a big thing a secret!

I tried thinking back to the last time I might have hit on Tsuna. I don't think I made any direct approaches after I entered college. The guy was so totally not interested in me so I fell back. When he told me liked Kyoko I took the hint. That was that. I decided to move on. End of story. I dated some geek from my classes and then dumped the idea of men altogether. I know I was upset for Tsuna for a long time but hey! I didn't show it! Look at me now!

I'm miserably single. I get sick when ever my work-buddies inquire about sexual tensions. I electrocute men with a stun gun (courtesy of Hayato) if I think they're hitting on me. My friends are going around getting married. My best friend is about to get married and I'm not even dating a guy. Wow…

What a life…

Oh. My. God.

I just remembered the last time I was all over Tsuna and that time I was literally all over him. It was at Ryohei's birthday party. Tsuna and I were one team. The game was a bit complicated and must-win because with every dare a person gave out more money was placed on the table and if you lost a dare your money went to the one who gave you the dare. It was kind of betting and daring.

The guy on Ryohei's team dared us to make a sex scene and we were both like WTF! Ryohei even went on to say that Kyoko wasn't around so it was okay! The guys started wolf whistling and cat calling and I could tell Tsuna was very nervous with it. Every team starting betting that we wouldn't be able to do it and that was a **lot** of money. So guess what I did?

Yea. I straddled Tsuna and then you could only hear, "WOW!" from every mouth on the table. We didn't take it too far, just enough to win the dare. Just _extreme_ kissing and poking around each other's clothes and accessories. I could tell it was enough to have turned on every person and guess what? Tsuna and I won. Amidst the hanging jaws and disbelieving stares I collected the money and passed taunts.

That incident would never have occurred if I hadn't gobbled down half a bottle of alcohol drink. My normal self would have kept my pride and lost the money but the alcohol gave a light tug in one direction and made me so bold that I had my tongue down Kyoko's boyfriend's throat! After that I was careful with the amount of drink I consumed, defiantly a max of three shots and never more. We both narrated it to Kyoko later and apologized. I'm glad we did because she would have been ticked if someone else beat us to it. She took such an understanding stance that I felt like the luckiest person living.

But that was years ago. Why would they want to hide their engagement because of something we promised never to talk about? Was it really possible for Kyoko to fucking _forget_ to tell me that she had fucking accepted Tsuna's proposal? … Oh Lord … Hayato's mouth is growing on me.

There was only one way to figure this thing. I pressed the speed dial number.

"Hi Haru-cha'!" Her voice chirped lively from the other end of the line. "You didn't pick up my calls and are returning them so late!"

"I'm sorry. I-I was just so, hahaha, surprised!" I exclaimed as I slapped my forehead. Not the speech I had been rehearsing in my head for hours. I thought of any possible incidents that might have made me a bad friend. "Congratulations…" MY ASS! "I was just- I didn't- It was so- Kyoko-chan!"

The girl giggled. "Haru-chu! Why do you sound so jumpy?" Is it just my ears ringing or did she refer to me as 'chu', and 'cha' before that? This always happenes when ever Tsuna is around her. I don't why she did that, was it to make herself more cuter and appealing to Tsuna or just some hormone kicking in that made her all giddy and giggly.

"Oh no serious reason" I just got an opportunity to bite. "Just that I'm surprised that the person I considered my best friend didn't consider me worthy enough of telling me that she had accepted a proposal from a mafia boss and that decades ago" There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Haru-san what are you talking about?" It wasn't Kyoko's voice. It was a much deeper and soothing voice, calmer in every aspect and heavy with acquaintance. It was Tsuna. Oh, so now he's referring to me as 'san' instead of 'chan'.

"HAHI!" A strange habit that clicked in every once in a while. "Kyoko-chan I can't believe that you were keeping your phone on loud speaker _with Sawada-san beside you!_" I could also play harshly with this honorifics shit. And I can't believe she kept the phone on loud speaker and with _him_beside her! It was an unwritten girl-girl law that you kept the calls from your BF private –always! I could already picture the two cuddled together on the couch and it made my stomach churn uncomfortably. "I'm sorry Kyoko-chan, but if you don't think it's alright for me to know that you're engaged then I think I'm not worthy of attending your wedding either"

"Haru-chan please listen-" You're the last person I want to listen to right now Kyoko.

"No! You listen! This isn't fair to me! What you're doing isn't fair! You can't win me over with your sugar coated sweetness, alright? I'm a _she_too and I know how this shit works! I'm not always going to be the first one to apologize! It's unfair! It's so unfair! Even Lambo and I-pin know you're engaged and I don't!" I wasn't too sure about that but I could very well bet that those two knew things in even more detail. "You're so unfair Kyoko-chan! You never even talked to me about this! You saw what happened to Chrome-chan! You can't even feel for her? You go ahead and get yourself married to the man who's the root of her problems!"

"Haru-" It was Tsuna now.

"GET THE GODDAMN PHONE OFF THE LOUD SPEAKER! NOW!" I pretty much screamed, screamed hysterically more like it. Yea… I'm gonna have curious neighbours inquiring about this later on. "TSUNA YOU ASS! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" hahaha, if Hayato could hear me now. I gasped loudly as something suddenly clicked in my head. "Oh. My. God. So that's why! You said you wouldn't and you did!" My hand flew to my mouth. "You said you wouldn't have sex until you got married but you told me you had it with Tsuna and that was because you were engaged" There was silence on the other end. "YOU HAD SEX BECAUSE YOU WERE ENGAGED AND WHEN I ASKED YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TELLING ME THEN EITHER! You had that chance to tell me you were committed and you didn't!"

"Haru-"

"I HATE YOU TWO! GO ROT IN AN ARMPIT! I'M NOT COMING TO YOUR FUCKING WEDDING IF IT WERE THE LAST ONE ON EARTH!" And I threw my cell to the floor. It didn't break. After all the money I invested in it I'd be damned if it broke but right now I wanted to see it reduce to bits. A voice called desperately on it but I quickly picked it up and cut the call. I fell back on the sofa, exhausted. When the cell suddenly vibrated I jumped. It was Kyoko. I cut the call. She was calling so persistently that it annoyed me. Even Tsuna made a call.

"WHAT!" I bellowed at him.

"Please Haru-san, you must listen to Kyoko-chan! This is a misun-"

"I GAVE BIRTH TO KAMIKAZE AND I'M STILL A VIRGIN! THAT'S A MISUNDERSTANDING, YOU PRICK OF A BOSS!" I opened the window and threw the phone down the street, making sure it hit something hard enough to break it. I didn't check to see if the thing was damaged or not because I knew I'd be so pissed I'd grab a mallet to reduce it to splinters. Even if the stupid thing was still intact Tsuna would know it had been abandoned because of the street noise or his fucking intuition might just tell him something. And that was my supposed end of the day.

I don't think I figured anything out by calling Kyoko. I just ranted and vent out my frustration on a new couple, which, knowing both of them, is probably feeling guilty as hell right now. Yea, they deserve it.

As predicted, the old neighbors started pouring in wondering why I had made enough noise to raise eye brows at least forty houses away. Noise from the Miura household was not possible.

"Are you pregnant, love?" The sweet lady next door inquired and I gently told her that I had a fight with my friend. The lady was scared as hell but she was only fulfilling formalities. Unlike most girls, I was never told that I looked 'cute' when ever I was angry; in fact, even my father had told me that I looked like grim in my anger.

"Did your boss force you into something? You can always contact the police you know. We have rights!" I once again cleared the misunderstandings.

"What the heck happened? I just abandoned my job down the street to run into open ground when my employer told me it wasn't a tremor, it was your voice!"

"Haru-san … You look like you could use a vacation…"

"_Go rot in an armpit._Good one!"

"There was no response on your phone so I rushed over to see if you were alright!"

"Do you know what my son was asking me just now?"

It was times like these I hated traditionalists. I needed space. I needed air. I needed clam. But if I didn't respond to them they'd ring up my dad and he's the last person I want to be enlightened about this. I know I'm a legal adult and free to do what ever I want but I was a single woman so I had to stay under my parent's protection. I was living in our family's house for God's sake! Japan isn't America and every family isn't Westernized!

I wrote down an absurd apology and explanation and stuck it to the gate, locking it too. After that no one bothered me … until an hour later the bell rang again. I ignored it. It kept ringing after regular intervals and I stomped down the stairs, annoyed. I made sure the person could hear the noise I was making. The bell rang again. So this person was playing along too.

I tore open the door with the most fuming expression I could muster. "WHAT!" I closed it just as instantly. The prick wasn't standing outside the gate, oh no, he had jumped over the wall and was ringing the doorbell.

"You can either open it or I'll break it down. Either way, I'm coming in, stupid woman"

I pressed myself against the door, putting on all the locks. "Go back to your stupid sexist head quarters, you octopus-headed moron!"

"Get away from the door, Haru-san" He warned. It wasn't everyday he used honorifics with my name. He grew up and spent so much time abroad on duty that he forgot using them most of the time.

"Is your dim-witted boss and his aloof fiancé with you?"

"They came and read the note you left. They agreed that you needed time to think it over" I snorted and laughed. "You shouldn't have said those things to them on the phone"

"How do you know they weren't lying to you?" I defended.

"I was sitting there when you were screaming your throat dry, Haru"

I gasped. That's complete betrayal on Kyoko's part. I can't believe it! Not only Tsuna, but _him_too! This is just too much. How many other morons were sitting there listening to me humiliate the soon-to-be-weds? I bickered too much too. Kyoko wasn't at all the type of person I portrayed her, I was just angry and screamed the first that came on my tongue. I guess I've always been jealous of Kyoko's feminine character. It attracts so much attention unlike my tom-boyish persona. I chopped my hair even though I knew that men liked women with longer hair! Could anyone be more retarded? Still though, if men don't like me for who I am, then I'm going to give them the 'sorry' too.

While I was having an internal feud, red flames seeped from under the door and a physical form came into being on the stairs.

"Nya~" The little creature licked its paws and then scratched its ears. No matter how hard I tried, I could never resist the charm that felines inflicted on me. That was all Hayato's fault too. He gave me litter of kittens on my seventeenth birthday. I was completely in love with them that it screwed my grades (a drop from A to B is a nightmare for some one like me). When the kittens grew up my father gave them away. I came back from school and when he told me what he'd done I cried all day and didn't talk to him for a month. I took in loads of stray cats after that. The neighbours called in for animal control and since my father refused to allow me to keep the adorable little things, they were taken away. The only play mate left was Uri but I didn't see him often because Hayato said that Uri _was not a toy_, even though I'd caught him playing with the little one many times.

"Hi Uri" I crooned and went on to pick the cute little ball of white and gold fur. It seemed so much smaller in size since the last time I picked it up. Ah, of course, I'd grown up. "How've you been you sweetie? What an adorable lil' dazzling munchie-frunc-" DRASSSSSH! And the door fell down, dissolving to powder as it hit the floor.

"Gokudera-bastard!" I screamed. My sudden burst surprised Uri so much that the little one got scared and clawed me so I released him of surprise. It jumped along the debris and pounced on its owner. "What was that for?" I bellowed. "I'll be having people peeking in over the walls! And thieves! And oh God, what if I get raped in my sleep!" He simply tossed something at me and I ducked to dodge it as if it were a contagious element. Nonetheless I did turn around to see what it was. "URGH! This stupid thing is still in one piece! I thought I got rid of it once and for all!" I kicked away my cell. "I'm getting a new one" I mumbled to myself and made a mental note of it.

Amongst all the squabbling I hadn't noticed Hayato get close to me until he poked my forehead, pressing it so my entire upper body was sent on a sudden lean backwards. I slapped away his hand. "What are doing? What are you here for? What the hell do you want?" Uri hissed at me. Poor brain washed thing. "Oh, and unless you pay for the damages, don't expect me to answer any of your questions, moron"

I stomped back up the stairs and the silver haired male followed me closely. I slammed shut the door to my bedroom but he held it before I could have locked it. I pressed against it.

"Come on Haru, haven't you been a bitch enough for one day?" He said.

"You're the one who damaged my property!" I argued as I pushed against the door with all my might.

"As if I can't pay for it" He suddenly gave it a rough shove and I stumbled back. The back of my knees made contact against my bed and I fell back on it. In the next instant he had crawled on top of me. He pinned my wrists beside my head and sat down on my thighs, his upper body hovered over mine. "I'm cooled, you cool down and then we'll talk"

…

…

…

_To all neighbours and scared passer-bys,_

_I apologize for the inconvenience I caused you all by screaming and cursing as I shouldn't have done. I apologize if your children picked up words they shouldn't have and I apologize if now they're asking you what they mean. Please forgive me. Such an incident will never occur in our traditional and peaceful neighbourhood again. I'll make sure it only hits Sasagawa and Sawada's neighbourhood._

_If you're reading this Kyoko and Tsuna, F.U.C.K. O.F.F._

_You have no business here. I've already given my blessings to your wedding. Expect a gift from me (because it gives me an excuse to shop) and nothing else. If you step into my yard I'll shoot you down through my window because I have a licensed gun and I've already placed an order for legal possession of a sniper rifle._

_Our relationship is done. Over. Nothing left of it. Nada._

_Breed like rabbits and whatever, just don't bother me anymore._

_Truly and lovingly,_

_Ms. Miura Haru_

Of all the things I could have thought about, I wonder why I reflected on the note I stuck on the gate.

**Close**

**This story originally existed and had reached around 16 chapters when I went on an unannounced hiatus and on my return found it completely wiped from . **

**I know this is quite an inconvenience to the past readers and, trust me, no one is as pissed as I am. I found the reason when I was surfing through my overloaded inbox: 'content not suitable for all ages' a.k.a wrong age rating. Well, I'll be careful this time and now I'm requesting others to be vary of the wrath of admins too.**

**A question: Is 'T' rating fine for this fic?**

**I would really like some help in this regard too. If there is a -glorious miraculous- chance that someone has some past chapters saved up that would be wonderful! I'm hunting them down to restore them. Meanwhile I'm afraid this story is gonna have to come like this again because restoring it directly from chapter 17 would make no sense to new readers. I hope your annoyance is reduced and you can support me in this regard.**

**Once again, my sincerest apologies to the followers of this story.**

**P.S. I'm planning on doing minute bits of –probably unnoticeable- editing in the story. **

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Into Hayato's Life

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #2 Into Hayato's Life**

I liked being in control, I mean who doesn't. And most of the time I did remain in control. That's why some people often called me 'control-freak'. Even though Tsuna was a mafia boss I could still bully him if I wanted. I could boss around my colleagues and especially have my way with children and teens, simply because they thought I was scary and disobeying me would mark the end of the world. I would never have realized that if I hadn't been told smack in the face because personally I felt I was really nice… the irony.

The only problem I ever encountered was Gokudera Hayato.

The bastard.

Octopus head! Moron!

He never listened to me. If there was something to be done he'd always have it done his way. He just heard my opinion, pretended to hear more like it, than went around like my suggestion had been nothing more than demanding candy from him. He was the control-freak in my eyes. Actually, he should've been called the control-freak. But people were more scared of him compared to me. So, once again, I'm number two.

Hayato was so dedicated to Tsuna I sometimes wondered if his loyalty had more to do with his sexuality. But if that had been the case than the Lambo-I-pin information network would already have informed us, that, and if it were true, then Hayato was a lost case because Tsuna was getting married to Kyoko very soon. Poor chap.

Even though Hayato broke down the front door to my house and damaged the wall holding it, as well as burning the carpet around it and damaging the wall opposite it **and**harming my furniture, yet, he was still the one in control and here I was dragging my suitcase behind him. The least he could have done is offered to hold it for me… no, I think he did that because I just remembered myself saying, 'Thanks but no thanks. You've already damaged my property what's a little more damage to my _feeble feminine_bones and muscles?' He'd given me _the-look_ then let me be.

See, when he overpowered me in my own bedroom I started screaming 'RAPE!' The original plan was to get my hands loose and give him a knee where the lights don't shine but the moron first secured both my hands with only one of his and then clasped my mouth shut. At that instant I realized how tiny my hands were compared to his. Even though Lambo was fifteen he was just as tall as I am! That's so unfair! And my height is the best of our girl gang. If it had been some total stranger I know I would've had a seizure or something equally worse and already shut myself off for the fear of sexual harassment, after I heard about Chrome's near experience I became very paranoid myself. But this was Gokudera and I trusted him enough to know he wouldn't try or do anything stupid.

He bickered some crap about the family, as usual. I always walked out on him whenever he started that. It was this family shit that got Chrome into such a tangled mess. Her love for her family had made her a miserable woe. But today, I was obliged to listen to it due to my position. Then he went on to tell me how stupid and naïve I was. Then came the 'we care about you' and 'we worry about you' speech. He started on my stupidity and 'attitude problem' again. Then he pulled up his conclusion, "You should immediately apologize to the Tenth and his fiancé"

"And pull the blame back on myself? I don't think so!"

"Until you apologize I'm not going to repair the damages" Blackmail. I couldn't ask Tsuna because I was mad at him. I sure as hell was not going to use any repair money on something I didn't do. If only dad had been in town …

"Well, we're both out of luck then"

As I refused to stay in a house that had its front damaged he offered me a place to stay until I straightened myself out._Pfft_ as if. I took up the offer convincing myself that he was obliged to do so because of the inconvenience he had caused me. I was in no mood to ring up any friends and neighbours and ask to stay for the night because of the bomb of the questions they would drop one after the other and I was simply not up for an explanation. Just because I ran away from home once didn't mean I was going to do something stupid like that again. That time too was my grandmother's fault and teenagers tend to do silly things once in a while. I am really grateful she's rotting in hell right now because she sure as heck wasn't heaven material. Hayato put up a guard outside my house and drove up to the heart of the city.

My temporary residence was an apartment building and just the look of it said that the mafia poured a lot of money into one's pocket. The woman at the lobby cheerfully greeted us and I replied just as enthusiastically. I could tell she was totally faking it, well, faking for me that is. She was all over the Smokin' Bomb, being so sweet and acting so vulnerable. Gwah! It was sickening to the pit!

Even though Tsuna and Gokudera insisted I had become some what feminine compared to how I used to be, I only thought that I had become more boyish as I grew up. Seriously, if I were feminine I would giggle and act cute and be all giddy and girly but I hated all of that. Even when girls did that I wanted to break a few things left and right because it was always to get the attention of some worthless man. I would prefer trousers and jeans to skirts anytime. My name meant 'Spring' but I never felt like spring. I felt like bitter winter most of the time these past few months.

And what's with attacking my creativity all the time! Hibird is a really cute name if I must say so myself. Even Hibari took it up so it's definitely a superb name. And yes! I proposed the little fluff ball be named Hibrid.

I was sacked out of my thoughts when I heard something like 'stay with me'

"What?" I asked.

Apparently Hayato hadn't been addressing me, he was busy with the witch behind the counter but he turned to me nonetheless. "The spare rooms are all reserved for some foreigners. You'll have to share. And because I don't trust your stupidity with Mafioso you're going to be staying with me"

My jaw fell the second he said 'your stupidity'. I tried to fling back some insults but my mind went blank and I suddenly felt overwhelmed. I could not believe that he just called me stupid in front of some person other than… well some other person! That's so not right! Absolutely uncool! I can't believe this. It felt like a slap on the face! And he had to say that too in front of a woman whom I had put on my hate list at first sight and apparently she had done the same too, the way she let out a snobbish laugh spoke volumes.

"You should be kinder to your girlfriend, Gokudera-kun"

"That's _sir_ to you" He replied coolly and I was the one who sneered this time. Even as he guided me away I turned to deride her on his back. We got on the elevator.

"You look really pleased about something"

"Huh?"

Fact to be told; Hayato was more clever than he let on. That's another thing I hated about him. He always played along and at the last moment you'd realize he knew everything just like you, or better too. In matter of women I didn't quite term him an expert –that was Lambo- but even he could detect some very basic female moves, like when someone was flirting openly with him. Except he had the oddest way of turning them down. All of us suspected that he was harsher when we weren't around because it was primarily his boss's order that he suck in all moves and try to deflect them in the most gentle manner possible.

Hayato and gentle just never went together.

"Why do I get to stay in an apartment? It has no lawn or any source of fresh air and no friendly neighbours" I whined as he led the way to his den. "Speaking of which, your living place should resemble a dump yard, knowing you"

He rolled his eyes and mumbled 'women'. "I just got back to Japan so I hadn't had time to create a mess. Are you always this noisy? Something crawled up your spine or somewhere while I was gone?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" I barged in ahead of him and was plunged into complete darkness as he shut the door behind him. "When did you get back anyway?"

"Two days" His apartment had the scent of an untouched place. The smell of leather stood out the most prominent. He switched on the lights and I'm not going to admit it out loud but his place was praise worthy.

"This can't be your taste" I teased. "It's too good for you" I dropped my luggage by the door and walked around the open space. His suite was shaded in grey-green and white. I entered the kitchen – the first place I intruded every where I went. It was furnished in black and white. Nice.

"Oh it's mine" he stood beside me; his lower arm hovered above my head supporting him against the door frame as he pocketed his other one and leaned lazily. To me it felt like he was trying to tower me, like make me feel short or something. "I expect you to do the kitchen work while you're here" Hayato kidded but honestly speaking I wouldn't mind working in a fancy kitchen.

"All the things in here probably went rotten while you were gone" I concluded and walked in. The counters were smooth black marble and I traced my hand along just for the feel of it. It was a tad bit exciting to be staying in Hayato's place. I had always heard from Bianchi that his place was a mess and that it sucked and was gloomy but this was completely contradicting. I even recall her stating that Hayato struggled with his rent back when we were raw teenagers. I suppose time has the power to change a lot of things because a person living in this posh did not look like he was the least bit concerned about rent.

"This place is for the mafia?" I turned to face the silver haired male and leaned against the counter.

He nodded. "Vongola alliance only if I should be more accurate"

"That's kinda mafia raciest" I added "Like all the other –ist things you guys are, notably sexist"

"Please don't bring up Chrome again" He pleaded.

"Are you offering to take me back to my fixed house?"

"Are you about to apologize to the Tenth?"

"You're dreaming" I brushed passed him and left the kitchen. "And you're wasting electricity!" I declared. When we entered he had only pressed two or three buttons and the whole floor just lightened up.

"Dreaming…" He repeated still glued to the door frame but in a different manner, now it was his back sticking to the wood. He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. Suddenly he shrugged off what ever thoughts he was wearing. "I'll check the guest room"

After he did what ever he had to do, he grabbed my luggage and took it to my 'new' room. It had the same wall coating as the rest of the place but with a different shade. The furniture was dark wood and pretty simple. I'm getting ready to bet that he had hired a decorator for all this.

"Ah!" I gasped. "The van!"

"Van? You sold your jeep?"

"No!" I took out my cell phone. Yes, this was the same one I had tortured over and over again but it refused to be incapacitated. When we were leaving I was going to abandon it but Hayato forced me to bring it along for unknown reasons. "The workplace van! It's going to come and pick me up at my house, except I won't be there" I think I just found out the unknown reason. Now I'm thanking the upper forces I didn't leave it behind. I don't have a single number memorized by heart. I dialed the driver. "Hello, hi Yoshi-san!" I walked away from the taller male. I felt somewhat uncomfortable around him while talking on the phone. I think I had a right to be especially after I found out that he had heard me screaming at Kyoko and Tsuna on the phone.

"_Hello Ms. Miura. Can I be of any assistance?_"

"Huh, yea, yes, yes. Uh, see I'm not-I'm not at my house anymore. Can you pick me up at a different address?"

"_The terms and conditions say that you have to have a form filled and provided to the company for such a service Ms. Miura, but anything for you, I'll accept your case_"

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"_No problem at all but you must fill the form and have it approved by tomorrow_"

"Of course I will!"

"_Your address, Ms. Miura_?"

"Hold on" I turned back to face Hayato, whom I had left in my room but he appeared to have followed me to the lounge. "Ever heard of privacy?" I glared at him. He removed a small black device from his ear.

"What? You running an affair with a busboy?"

I gaped at him. "Jerk" I hissed. "What's the address; I need it for my van to pick me up"

"I don't like the way he's accepting you. It's disobeying his boss's orders. He can get fired for that"

"Are you going to tell on us?"

"If you're having an affair"

"You ass! He's a driver! I'm a company officer! There's a difference of space and sky between us! Why would I hook up with a driver of all men? I'm not desperate you know! What's the address?"

"I'm not giving him the friggin' address! And space and sky isn't too apart, must you know"

"How do you even know who I'm talking to and what the hell he even said?"

He raised a brow in the 'is-that-even-a-question' way. "I'll drop you off"

"First" I jabbed a finger at his chest "I'm paying these people for pick and drop services. Second" I pulled back my hand and held up two fingers "I'm not letting my questions go easily. How did you hear him and what's the address?"

Suddenly, he snatched the phone from me. I tried to get it back but he held me at arm's length. Cat scratching, slapping, even cursing didn't work, cussing never works on Hayato. "Forget it, I'm dropping her"

"Trace the call Yoshi-san! Trace the call!" I yelled hoping to get a few words to him before Hayato cut the call. After he ended the call he started messing with my phone. "Give it back, jerk!" I can't believe he thinks so lowly of me! Having an affair with a workplace driver. You wish! What an ass. I coiled away from him when I realized he had his hand on my chest. I just got hit by an inferiority complex. I always feel it when ever I see women with full chests and compared to them I feel a bit … flat. I'm not really flat but my breasts aren't as full as normal, they're not too less either but I don't like my figure. A grunt brought me back to the world and I glimpsed him going through my contact list. "Oh God, what are you? My dad?" Even dad doesn't do that anymore. I'm a responsible adult now, _tch._

He smirked but continued undeterred. "You don't have many males on"

"I have no reason to" I snatched it when he offered my cell back.

"I used this" He took out a small black device from his pocket. I tilted my head to the side. What did he use it for? What was it? Why was he even showing it to me? He rolled his eyes. "Your neurons must die really fast" I was still confused. "I heard your conversation with _this_" He jabbed it in my face and then placed it back. And here I was beginning to think that I had accidentally put the phone on loud speaker.

The rest of the night went smoothly. We ordered dinner and then ordered dessert and then ordered dessert again. Watched TV and he tried showing off but I had a plasma back at home too and I deflated him by saying 'If you can watch something with a normal screen just fine than why do you need wall sized screen for it?'

"This way we can get a bigger and clearer picture from security camera footages. It helps in observation" was his reply. Whatever.

Before going to bed I put Kyoko and Tsuna's number in 'screened' category so their calls and messages would never bother me again.

"If you need anything I'll be in my room. Just knock" He said against the door. I'm not going to eat you if you come in, you know. Not my problem again. The night was restless. A foreign feeling lingered and I was pretty sure it was because I wasn't sleeping in my own bed, in the safety of my own room. I kept turning and kicking the sheets. I had never had such a restless night, not since I was fourteen and found out what Tsuna and co had really been doing all that time. Just when it felt that I'd closed my eyes, constant banging on the door jolted me from the bed.

"Stop it!" I screamed. "I'm awake!"

"Breakfast's ready!"

I groaned and fell back in the pillows. I was so sleepy. My cell started ringing. "Hello?"

"Are you coming out or should I come in?"

"Moron" I replied and cut the call. Which reminds me… why didn't the alarm ring? Maybe it got disabled when I knocked the phone back home. Definitely possible. I tortured the poor thing so much. Shoichi would kill me if he ever found out. I removed all thoughts that led to the soon-to-be-married couple and hauled myself to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed down my hair and preceded to the kitchen. I had never liked the smell of breakfast in my entire life but I had learned to suck it up and put on a brave demeanor.

Don't throw up Haru, don't throw up. You're in Hayato's place, not your own. You've gotta keep a cool impression on him. You don't need to give more reasons than you already have to hate each other.

As I mentioned, I only proceeded to the kitchen, I never made it there. The TV along with its mega sound boxes turned on in full blast and I pretty much threw myself against the wall because the first wave that hit me felt like an explosion. Hayato came out of the kitchen carrying a loaded tray, nodded at me and preceded towards the lounge setting. I guess he had his breakfast in front of the TV, probably his lunch and dinner too.

Despite the time, he was fully prepared. The man was already in his suit and here was I, in my pajamas. I think I left a great impression. My plan; pretend I came out for a glass of water and that I drink water everyday before getting ready, then I'll go back, get dressed and get breakfast. I can only pray that his cooking has remained stable –or hopefully improved- through the years.

"Turn down the volume" I hope he heard me above the noise. What the heck was he watching anyway? All the metal music and the flashing on the screen, it made my ears bleed and tears flow. I'm not a regular TV viewer. Everything I do, I do it on my laptop.

"No sir!" He replied and turned his attention back to the screen, stuffing something in his mouth too.

I peeked around from behind him hoping to find a trace of the remote and turn the whole thing off altogether. Perfect revenge. But no luck. So, with my head hurting so early in the morning and my eyes deprived of sleep, I went towards the kitchen, only to have him block my path.

"Breakfast" He pointed towards the lounge table.

"Water" I replied and try to get past him.

"Water" He repeated and pointed, once again, towards the lounge table. I threw my hands beside me in frustration and marched towards it. This guy didn't have a dinner table. After quickly gulping a glass down I went back to my room. The noise level lowered significantly so I'm assuming the walls are very sound absorbent. No wonder he had the volume raised to concert level. Quickly dressing up, I showed my face to him again.

"I'm not hungry" I waved off his hands that were gesturing towards the table set out in front of him. His eye visibly twitched. Even though he probably didn't hear but my expression said it all. He put the sound on mute.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you"

"Come on 'Dera! I don't feel hungry" I whined using the nickname Takeshi had made up for him.

"Don't call me that!" He stood up. "Come on Haru, eat something"

"I don't really take breakfast seriously" I looked away from him and started tugging the clasp of my handbag, checking if it was bound correctly. "And it's not dieting. Breakfast just sickens me" Talk about honesty. Okay, he looks pissed. At least _I was honest!_ That counts for something … right? I'm guessing not for someone who got a complete menu prepared for you and you refuse to eat all the money spent. "I'm sorry Hayato, I really am. You should have asked me first" I motioned towards myself then let my hand flow over the food "There's no need to be so extravagant for someone like me. I'm not someone you have to impress, we're just casual friends" I noticed I use a lot of hand gestures while talking. So basically I was saying: It's your fault Gokudera.

He huffed. "Right. You couldn't tell me that before hand"

"Um…" I shrugged my shoulders. "Sorry" I mumbled. "Really, I am. I didn't think you would-"

"I'll let it pass" He held up his hand. "But-" His forefinger angled to point towards me, "you owe me"

I smiled. "Yea. Sorry again"

"Stop that. I'm going to get sick" He picked up the keys and walked to the door. I gave the food one fleeting glance then followed him out.

"But I really feel bad about this" I can't believe I'm such a bitch. I could've eaten a thing or two, or just taken some juice but noooo, I just had to be brutally honest with the only one person who decided to prepare a feast for me at morning time. I got offended whenever I was kept out of breakfast –even though I never took it- and this one time when someone other than family or BF prepared morning tea for me, I go _'Breakfast just sickens me'_

"You're acting as if it bothers me" He pocketed his hands and walked briskly towards the lift.

I didn't reply. If I did, I was sure we were going to get into something verbal again and that's the last thing I wanted right now. After putting myself as a burden on him and shooting down his generosity I didn't want to feel like a thorn in the toe. We'd met after a whole month! Now that I think about it, I'm only here because of Tsuna. Damn men and their stupid pride and equally stupid things. If Tsuna found out about this he'd be sure to have me back in my house as soon as possible. And I was here because Hayato's head functioned like a broken clock, a clever old broken clock. I can thank God for at least one thing; Hayato isn't Vongola Decimo.

We got off at the lobby and the receptionist waved at him. He smiled back and then we were in the parking.

"Why do you change your car every two days?" I asked as I buckled myself in the passenger seat.

"I don't change it every two days" He denied as he also sat in. "It's only once or twice a month, sometimes two" He put on his belt and reversed the car rashly. My head slammed against the head rest when he put on the brake. He totally did that on purpose … I can tell because I smell revenge. I can't believe that despite all the years we've been together we haven't stopped settling scores even in trivial matters. Not forget to mention the fact that we get noisy when ever we get together. Lambo thought that I might have a Storm Flame too but the blood tests proved me to be a Lightening character. That doesn't mean I can use a box weapon. I can barely activate a ring! "Its purpose is purely security"

"Humph" I think it's showing off.

"Why don't you use your jeep to get to work?"

"I'm protecting the environment" I replied. Gokudera burst into fits of laughter. "It's bastards like you that destroy our ozone and imbalance the eco-system" I huffed. "Thank God you don't use those dynamites anymore; they were slaughterers of mother-nature" He continued to take me as a joke. "Come on you moron, can't you feel anything for your grandchildren? Don't you ever wonder that they might be living in a world where everyone will be wearing gas masks and there will be no greenery" He let out a loud whistle.

"That's a really far outlook of the future" He grinned.

"Yes well I try to fulfill my part of protecting the environment" I didn't fuss much about the environment before but after I read a brochure that predicted the conditions of the world in the near future I was terrified of the generations to come. I was determined to use public transport and plant trees and force I-pin, Lambo and Futa into Earth loving activities.

"That's coming from someone who's an engineer. Anyway, what time do you get off? I'll come over to pick you up"

"I'll use the subway" Protect the environment!

"I'll come over anyway because you'll just get lost in the city"

"Excuse me! I know Namimori like the back of my head"

"I know your head like the back of mine"

What the hell is that even supposed to mean? Is he saying I'm stupid? Or is he saying I'm predictable? Well, hotheads are predictable. It's not fair that he only seemed to become cool as time went and I became a fuse, not forget to mention sharp tongued. I sighed. From the corner of my eyes I could see him turn towards me. "Eyes on the road, Smokin' Bomb" He meekly obeyed. Why was he still called the Smokin' Bomb? He didn't use dynamites anymore. Or was I the only one who called him that? It is an awesome title to go by and it goes perfectly with his looks too – Smokin' Hot. I giggled.

"Haru?" He asked in a low voice. "Is this routine or a reason of concern?"

"What?" I sounded miffed but I was actually surprised at his question.

"You're changing modes too rapidly"

"I get off at four" I opened the door. Hayato started cursing and immediately slammed on the brakes.

"Are you crazy woman! The car was moving!"

"My stop's across the road" I got out. Vehicles from behind began blaring horns. I blew him a kiss and jogged to my work place. Even as I left I could hear him yelling 'That's why U turns exist!'

I was disappointed that no accidents occurred. I carry good intentions at heart but I really wanted a reason to tease Hayato. I could've played with him that he can't handle me but not only was he prepared for an emergency brake but the drivers behind us were sharp too. Pity. Now I wonder if I'm turning into a psycho case. I love mother-nature but I hate weather other than normal. I love the environment and I hate socializing. I like children but dislike men. I have no friends other than my childhood ones and coworkers only feel like formal acquaintances and nothing more, like forced friends.

My cell started vibrating. I received it when I entered the building.

"Hello! Good morning!"

"Yes, morning Miura Haru" I froze. I checked caller ID which said 'unknown'. I normally don't pick up unknown numbers, they usually mean trouble. I picked it up on whim without even looking and it just had to turn out to be this person. Who gave him my number? I looked left and right, paranoid already. My past experiences with him have never been good. "I need a favour of you for my lovely lost Chrome. Please listen carefully, I will not repeat myself"

**Close**

**Thankfully, so far I'm getting positive feedback from you guys. Thank you loads for the understanding stance. I hope rereading the chapters doesn't grate your nerves too bad DX**

**Now to the next problem: I managed to get most of the chapters back, but I don't have chapter 3. If anyone has it can you please PM it to me? I would be really grateful!**

**. . .**

**And this is the original text that was uploaded with the chapter previously:**

**Any who, the Hibird name thing is actually a fact. It wasn't stated but kind of hinted that it was Haru who named him. Strange, eh?**

**And Haru really is a Lightening attribute. I read it somewhere and I forgot that now… Kyoko was a Mist in a card game but it's unconfirmed by the company. I thought "Kyoko and Mist? Does that mean she's not as nice and kind as she acts?" o.O**


	3. Runaway

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #3 Runaway**

I tried keeping my cool but just his presence alone had such a dreaded affect on me that I couldn't help but shudder every time our eyes met.  
Everything's cool Haru, everything's totally cool. It's not everyday you get to have coffee with a Vendicare runaway, breakaway would be more like it. This is the guy who walked her to the stage and who was against Chrome's marriage, so I like him … that's not the least bit reassuring. There are so many bright sides to this –that I can't think of right now- but if Chrome can stand him and trust him, there's no reason I can't.

"I like the way you think" He smiled. Great … he's reading my mind. I inhaled heavily and let out a sharp breath.

The morning didn't start out very favourably for me. I woke up in Hayato's house, nearly puked at the heavy scent of rich breakfast, flatly refused eating and jumped out of a moving vehicle just to annoy the Tenth Generation Storm Guardian. God has a funny way of punishing people. Hayato probably cursed at me because no sooner I got a call from Rokudo Mukuro which was more of threat than an invitation to coffee. So I wrote and submitted a sick leave on the spot, crossed five blocks on foot and went in to a café where he was already waiting for me.

This café had a fond memory. Originally I had hated that night but over time I had come to secretly love it, even though I acted like I'd rather die than let something like that happen again. When I ran away from home back in my teens, this is where I crashed. It was a stormy weather and the café was closed. Hayato and I bumped into each other exactly in front of the door. He started yelling at me but slowly stopped. I guess he took in the sight of a familiar face with makeup running down, a dress soaked –I had come back from the farewell party of a lecturer at high school- and shivering skin. Even in my despair I started yelling back at him because I didn't recognize him with my teary vision. The first words that came when he recognized me weren't very consoling.

"You bitch! Look at the hour! Look at yourself! Even your mother won't recognize you like this!"

"HAHI! Who do you think you-eeep!" He grabbed my arm and roughly shoved me under the extension of the roof that started protecting us from the harsh rain. My simultaneous crying, sobbing and mental movie murder of my grandmother –yes, it was her fault- wasn't helping in coming up with witty insults. He started picking the lock.

"Come on"

"Aren't we breaking into- AH! Are you going to harass Haru in here! As if I would enter here with a total stranger! I know self-defense!" I can imagine how ridiculous I might have sounded to him with the state I was in.

"Wah? You're really a bitch!" He grabbed my wrist and dragged me in. When I started thrashing he slapped the back of my head. "It's me! Gokudera!"

"Huh? Gokudera-san? What are you doing out so late and in such a weather?"

"I'm on drugs, what about you?" It never occurred to me that he could be humoring me. I took him so seriously that I squeaked and jumped quite a height before starting to chide him. When he managed to shut me up, he asked "You look horrible, woman. What happened?" I bit my lip so hard, it started bleeding. I started crying and broke the whole story to him, continuously mentioning that I had abandoned my home. He didn't seem to be affected at all. He reached across the table and pinched my nose. "I've never heard anything more ludicrous"

"You're just a stone-hearted, cold-blooded bastard!"

"Yea" He smirked and blew up a side of the café with his dynamite "I am." Then he disappeared and left me to deal with the police that swarmed in minutes after the blast. They had tried to return me home but I told them I'd run away and would never go back. Next hour, I was home. No one would really have found out I ran away, no one in home even noticed me missing! But, because I opened my mouth more than necessary, it felt like the whole country knew what had happened. It was even published in the paper!

I had never hated anyone more in my life the amount I hated Hayato at that time. I refused to see him and screamed at him every instant he was in my sight. Then Tsuna told me that Hayato was a runaway too. He knew about the consequences, the sacrifices and the hell that one has to go through when they do such irrational things. What Hayato did was best for me, even if he did it in the least consoling and most retarded way, but that's his way of showing he cares. He's not one would turn for pity. It took me a long while to accept that. I grew to like Hayato more after that incident but I think I liked him more because I found out that he was a runaway –at the frigging age of eight.

That's a pretty old story. Hn, my teen years sure were something.

"Salve" The seated male raised his hand then gestured to the seat opposite him and I sat down meekly. I'm sorry Tsuna, Kyoko and Hayato! I really, really, really feel like repenting right now. The man placed his elbows on the table, knitting his fingers together and leaning forwards. Gwah! He's staring at me so intensely! Is he going to possess my body again? The last time he did that I was in so much shit when I came back to my senses. Mukuro jerked his head to the side and I jumped. He chuckled. I had no idea I was so frightened of him. He had only tilted his head a bit and I thought he was going to lung at me over the table.

Dude, you are one scary male.

"I know"  
I was surprised and it showed on my face because he seemed to get more entertained by the minute. Ah! I forgot! He can read minds! How can I forget that so soon? Why the hell am I even here?

"It is regarding Chrome" His voice turned grave and the smile on his face reduced.

"Is she alright?" I leaned closer to him. Why are we whispering?

He shook his head. "Here I am with some outrageous intelligence and there you sit wondering why we are whispering" I felt my face heat up.

"Ha-Hahi! So sorry Rokudo-san!" I fiddled with my thumbs. No thought is safe with this guy around. I've got to stop thinking! How do people stop thinking? Is it even possible for a person to stop thinking? Why am I asking myself this? God, this feels so stupid. I repent Holy Forces up there! I repent! Is he still reading my mind? That's intrusion of privacy! Women need more privacy then men! At least they don't have menstrual and stuff to worry about. I can't believe I thought of menstrual in front of him!

He chuckled. "You can say I raised Chrome, so such minor thoughts do not make me curious" Crap. He explained menstrual to her. That had to be weird … or awkward. "Back to Nagi now"

"Hm?"

"Chrome will be arriving in Namimori in a few hours time" I felt the blood stop flowing in my vessels. No friggin' way. "Yes. Friggin'. Way. And she is prerequisite of your assistance, seeing as you are the only one she is left with to rely on" Hm? Did everyone else die or something? Chrome and Kyoko get along better than the two of us. "The Poison Scorpion and Sawada's fiancé are both directly associated with the one Chrome is trying to avoid" Kyoko and Bianchi are both directly associated with … Vongola? "Close enough" I frowned.

"What happened?"

"She will explain it to you herself. In the mean time I want you to prepare a shelter for her" If this has something to do with a mafia war, I'm so screwed. "Keep her away from all Guardians. The best option is for you to take her back to your residence and I will have you both shielded" It sounds so serious. I wonder what happened. Hold on!

"What about Hibari-san?"

A dark smirk crawled onto his face. "As I said, Chrome will explain it. This trouble won't last very long. Perhaps a week or so, until things settle down. She will handle it herself from there on, but understand" He inched his face closer to mine and lowered his volume by degrees "Chrome is in a weakened state and I trust you will take good care of her until she is over her crisis" I wonder what Hibari did to her. It has to be that bastard or his family, I can't think of anything else. "Protect her from the Guardians"

I huffed in air and balled my hands. For some reason, I felt determined. Determined to protect my friend. What ever it was, who ever it was, that person was not getting to Chrome until I was dead and cold. I built up a strong resolve to protect her. For one, I became sure that what ever Chrome was going through had to be psychological. I could help her with that. Chrome was like a little duckling, so naïve in the ways of the world, and if anyone was causing her pain, well, that person had better watch out.

"Good" Mukuro nodded his head. "Keep up the pep talk and something excellent just might come out of it" He took a sip of the coffee. "Don't try anything on her, only keep her distant from the Guardians, there's nothing more you have to do"

I nodded enthusiastically. But there was one major problem. "My house…"

"Yes, I know" He looked out the glass wall. "It is taken care of"

Things were silent after that. The flame building inside began to fade as I realized just whom I had made a deal with. I am in so much trouble. The guys said that Mukuro never did anything unless there was something in it for him. What was he going to gain out of this? Maybe, just maybe, this was purely for Chrome. He didn't seem like such a heartless person now that I had talked to him. He really cared. "You must excuse me now. Chrome's flight will be arriving shortly, you must head up to the terminal" Ah, the use of 'must', he's a real authoritative person. "I have things to attend to. Addio" He stood up.

I followed his actions. "Yea, bye. Have a nice day"

"Oh, it is certainly going to be a thrilling day"

His words echoed in my head the entire time. Even as I stood waiting for Chrome's arrival –with absolutely no idea which flight she was getting off- his words scared me. I didn't have to look for Chrome because she found me rather effortlessly.

"Haru" We both just stood there for a while, simply staring. I opened my arms and glomped her.

"I missed you Chrome-chan!"

"I-" She hugged me back very gently. I had forgotten how frail she was. "I missed all of you too" She didn't have much luggage on her. Factually speaking, she had no luggage at all, just a large handbag in which she was carrying around necessities. I took her to have some snacks then we went underground and caught a train to the suburbs. The way was silent. I was eagerly waiting for an opportunity to ask her about many things

and she was only replying to simple 'yes' and 'no' questions. It didn't look like she was in any mood for any talking.

When I stood at the gate of my house, I was surprised to see the front door attached and brilliantly repaired. Mukuro had outdone himself again! Now that I think about it, it might be an illusion. "Hayato busted my front door you know" Chrome looked up to me, a bit surprised. Her look alone asked 'Why?' "Because he was being an ass" I replied. "So I'm wondering if it's an illusion"

"It isn't"

"Oh" I guess Hayato must have repaired it just that day, only, he was keeping me from my own residence. Men, seriously! "Come on, let's go" I led her through the gate and opened the lock. The place was clean as ever. No sign of a certain Storm ever coming. "Why don't you sit down" I offered. "I'll fetch you something to eat"

"I-I don't feel…" She looked around nervously. "… not… not like eating" … Yep, the girl was in a confused state. I can't imagine what's wrong with her.

"Let's get you in comfortable clothes, at least" She nodded, thankfully. I took her upstairs to my bedroom. Unlike me, Chrome was a fan of skirts. I don't wear skirts but I know I keep them somewhere around here. I looked around my wardrobe. I hate this part. Whenever you need something, it never comes out, but when you don't need, it keeps slapping you in the face. Life's a bitch. "Ah!" I pulled out a bright spaghetti strap sundress. Who the heck gave me this because I sure as hell didn't buy anything like that. "Ah, I hope you don't mind this"

She smiled as she took it from me. "It's really decent" I felt my cheeks flaring up. Expect the Vongola to make comments on how low I am on the financial scale –compared to them. During the ten years that I'd known Chrome, she progressed financially and now Kokuyo Land wasn't some abandoned play land, that place was a total mansion for the Kokuyo Gang, at least inwardly it was. It still looked like a miserable wreck from outside, so I had heard. She generously donated her money to Ken and Chikusa and they gave no indications of ever paying back. Expect Chrome to be Chrome because she had no intentions of taking it back either. Now that she was Hibari's wife, her finances had doubled. Lucky girl –in terms of money of course.

The clock struck full twelve. Noon already. Mukuro sure did take up time without giving you any feeling of wasting it.

I went around making preparations for lunch. All the time Chrome sat on the lounge seat going through the contents of her cell. She sure looked miserable. Really, depressingly miserable. I felt so sorry for her. I left the pot on the stove and went back to check on her. I stood behind Chrome and looked at her cell over her shoulder. She was watching a prerecorded video, over and over again and it kind of freaked me.

The screen was centered on someone's hair. The person was sitting at a table with his head covered in his arms. As he raised his head –well- it was Hibari Kyoya. He went on to sit properly, unfold his arms and slightly tilt his head sideways. "Are you recording?" There was a giggle which was unmistakably Chrome. Then the sign of apocalypse came, Kyoya actually smiled and stuck out his tongue to which I nearly tripped on my feet right over the sofa. Another round of giggles followed. Kyoya cupped his cheek placing his elbow lazily on the table. "Are you going to eat that?" His free hand pointed towards an unseen object and a hushed apology followed from Chrome's side. He reached out his free hand and the screen was blackened. Then things went in a blur as the camera changed hands. When the focus was readjusted, Chrome was centered, a fry hanging from her lips. She quickly ate it up and waved towards the camera. The video ended.

Over and over again.

It made me wonder if something had happened to Hibari. Was he dead? That is highly unlikely. In fact, I should be hitting myself for even considering that. Hibari Kyoya is just one thing that refuses to die. There was a possibility that he was mortally wounded but wouldn't that make Chrome obliged to stay by his side and serve him as a faithful wife should. Jeez, I make it sound like they're an old couple. They just got married. How long has it been? Definitely around six months or more.

What could possibly have happened to make Chrome travel all the way back to Namimori on her own?

"I should probably explain things to you now, shouldn't I?" She looked up at me weakly. Yea, it's about time. I was going to die!

"You don't have to if you don't want to" I smiled reassuringly. "All that you have to tell me is that you need help, and I'm there" Let's take things slowly; I don't want to appear a selfish wart. And it's her secret to keep. If she doesn't want to speak I guess there's nothing I can do about it. There have been hundreds of things she's kept from Kyoko and me throughout our relationship.

"I feel like I owe you a lot" She flipped close her cell and put it in her bag. "Shall I help you with preparing lunch?"

"Oh it'll be fun! Just like old times!" She nodded and followed me to the kitchen. There wasn't much left to do, we just had to wait for the dish to heat up and mix it from time to time. Just for the sake of keeping her busy I proposed we make a cake. That had the exact reaction I was hoping for. Good thing I had everything present. Because of the visits the Vongola troop trio i.e. I-pin, Lambo and Futa, I always kept my kitchen loaded with teenage goods. I loved preparing handmade recipes for them but my work didn't allow much time for relaxation so I had my store full of readymade goods too.

I found the self-made manual for deserts and dishes and we both started on it right away.

"Mukuro-sama will be visiting us tonight" Chrome said out of the blue.

"Really?"

"Yes" She nodded her head. "He just informed me" She worked undeterred, as if I wasn't bothered by the mere mention of his name at all. "He also says that Gokudera-kun might come looking for you"

"What!" I bellowed. "Why!" I cried out.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I hope he doesn't find out I'm in Namimori"

I froze up. They didn't know she was here? Is that why Mukuro asked me to keep her away from the rest of the Guardians? It might make sense. I didn't really contact any of the familiga on a regular basis. My job kept me on my toes and the only time I met them was on special occasions; like Chrome's wedding. That was the last wedding from the family I'll ever attend.

"Chrome?" She looked at me questioningly. "Can I ask you something about…?" Her eyes encouraged me onward. "Wh-Why aren't you with Hibari-san?"

Her hands froze and her eyes widened to some extent. I saw a shiver move through her frame after which she took a heavy inhale. "Hibari-san…" Her lower lip quivered. "I need… I need some distance from him" Her voice cracked mid-sentence and suddenly tears slipped out of her eyes, the beater dropped and she slipped to the floor.

"Oh God! Chrome!" I quickly bent down and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" I tried soothing her. "I really am. I can be such a horrible person" I hope you're happy Tsuna and Kyoko. "I shouldn't have asked. I'm so sorry" I managed to take her to the lounge where I had her drink two glasses of water after which she finally calmed down.

"I don't know what came over me. I just have to hear his name to start crying" She mumbled as I apologized profusely. "It really isn't your fault Haru-chan. It's mine. I feel like I'm a burden to you. I feel like I'm always a burden to everyone"

"No, Chrome. You're my sister! You can come here in the middle of the night, at sunrise, when it's doomsday, any day, anytime, you can come in and I'll have your room ready for you. You're not a burden to anyone Chrome. Here, have some more water"

We both sat silently for, I don't know, an hour or more. The half made cake remained forgotten in the kitchen and the dish for lunch was ready a long time ago. After what seemed like ages Chrome turned to me "Haru-chan, do you think I'm naïve?"

Is that a trick question? Because yes, Chrome my love, you are still naïve. "Maybe, a little bit" It doesn't hurt to lie when you're protecting someone, right?

She sniffed and nodded. "I didn't know exactly what making love was until after I got engaged" She laughed lightly. "No one ever gave me the details on it" Her cheeks flushed as she probably recalled something private. "I never wondered to myself how babies are made or what rape is. I just knew that both were frightful experiences and I was never going through them" She paused for a while, and then turned to me. "Do you think it was naïve of me to ignore such things, Haru-chan?"

I thought about it. "I guess, it kind of was. You have to know because these things are more common than we can imagine. And being a girl … it was important, to know, to be able to protect oneself better. I think it's very important, especially in your teen years"

"Kyo-kun and I…" Good, she said his name without wavering "…had to spend the days together to get to know each other better, after we were engaged" She continued. "One day, he tried something on me and I was left so confused and felt very humiliated. I couldn't understand myself. I had never felt like that, never ever before. It was such a warm feeling and it was welcome and unwelcome at the same time. He said he wanted to make love to me" I gasped. Sorry people, that part could not be helped. Hibari actually tried to have –God I can't even say the word when it associates with Chrome. What was he? An idiot? One look at Chrome gives you her character on the plate! And that moron goes on to have -ARGH! Men are so impossible! At least he had the decency to ask her.

"Sorry" I apologized.

"I expected as much" She smiled. "Kyo-kun is a very different person behind the curtain" Wow, she's calling him 'Kyo-kun' that had to count for something. Because of the curtain she mentioned I'm getting perverted images that I'd rather not discuss, even though what she means by 'behind the curtain' could certainly not mean what I'm thinking about right now. "Nothing happened that night" She folded her legs and placed her chin on her knee. "I didn't understand what he meant and he realized that. We couldn't look at each other for a long while and Kyo-kun was especially very embarrassed" This is the part where I want to hoot and stuff but for the sake of Chrome opening up to me, I resist this strong tendency to do something indecent. "I feel like it's my fault that it's come to this"

"No one can ever take the complete blame for something. It isn't your fault. If you think he's upset because you didn't know what 'making love' meant, that's not your problem, not your fault. No one told you and you certainly aren't the type to have your head in the gutter so you're not the one to blame. If he was going to spend the rest of his life with you he should first know your character better" Instead of jumping straight to bed. I can't understand what he was thinking. Though, come to look at it through a neutral point of view then it's not Hibari's fault either. How was he supposed to know that a twenty-three year old has no idea how sex really works? That's pretty impossible. "I hope he didn't hurt you in any way"

She looked dazed. "I forgave him for not attending our wedding ceremony. I understand how he feels about gatherings" She sighed. "Then I had a transplant for my illusionary organs because Kyo-kun felt that with them Mukuro-sama owned me" I frowned. Men are ridiculously possessive. I speak from experience. "We went upcountry" She smiled. "Oto-san and Okaa-san liked me" Her smile turned upside down. "She was there too and while I was healing and getting used to my real organs, she cooked and took care of Kyo-kun, even though he could handle himself very well"

"Who's she?"

"Asura-san" Her lips tightened. "She was the family's choice"

"Hibari-san's ex? She was there? What the hell was she doing there?" Holy crap! The in-laws probably brought the Asura bitch on purpose! Why in the world would you bring the dumped fiancé when the suitor has gotten married!

"I also met a gynecologist to help me understand the … physical intercourse better" Oh my God! How cute! She can't even say the word 'sex'. "But I was too scared to go through it. Kyo-kun and I tried, and he was patient with me and supportive of my fear. He-He said it was reasonable and I thought he understood. But I couldn't understand why he was so frustrated with me and … and recently he started leaving early and returned late or came back after days. He never told me why. He didn't pay attention to me anymore. It was too late by then, I guess. No one can wait forever"

"What happened?" I asked gently, hoping I wasn't prying.

"Kusakabe-san took me out because he thought I was stuffed up too much in the house and at a sea shack I … I saw Kyo-kun with Asura-san" She palmed half her face, spreading her fingers and her voice shook a bit but she continued after she composed herself. "I didn't think much of it"

She inhaled deeply. "I thought Kyo-kun was away on a mission but he was with Asura-san, again" She looked down at the carpet. "A parcel came addressed to me and it was a recording of Asura-san and Kyo-kun" She trembled. "They were in a room, and they were so close. So very close and … I could hear them so clearly … I wanted to die than and there" She started sobbing. "There were times when Asura-san teased me but I couldn't understand her and now I can only think 'why me?' Was it because I wasn't ready? He seemed to be so patient with me!"

One thing I was very certain of at the moment; Hibari Kyoya was a lot of things, but the one thing he wasn't, was a cheater. And I am damn well ready to bet my house that the video was probably a load of crap. Even though Chrome has come across so much crap she still thinks there's goodness in everyone. She's too forgiving and too much trusting. You can easily lie to her. However, there are times when you think you're playing her and she's the one who's actually playing you. I think it's an illusionist thing. "Chrome, is there any chance that-"

"I thought I should talk to him about it when he got back, but he didn't come. So, I took my things and left. He can go and do what ever he wants and I will leave and do whatever I want. That's fair game, right?" That sounds more like Mukuro than Chrome.

The bell rang. "What kind of moron would be here at this hour?" Any sane person would know that this was a time when working people took their naps.

"Haru! I know you're in there!"

At that time I felt the term 'blood ran cold' for the first time in many years.

Why was Hayato here?

**Close**

**Special thanks to ****springrain28**** who made it possible for this chapter to be re-uploaded. Thank you ~ **

**And in ancient posts:**

**Salve – Hello  
**

**Addio – Goodbye.  
**

**Oto-san means father and Okaa-san means mother. When a person gets married the grooms parents become 'mother' and 'father'. I'm sure most of you know this unless the custom is different in your place.  
**


	4. The Mist and Storm

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #4 The Mist and Storm**

"Haru, open the door!"

I motioned Chrome to go upstairs. She picked up her bag and moved through the steps like a ghost. Neither her feet, nor her movement made a sound. After taking in a few deep breaths and checking myself in the decoration mirror, I went to the front door. He had rung the bell again.

I opened the door and tried to look as casual as possible.

"You sure look ticked" I complimented.

"You sure took your time"

"In case you can't tell, I'm…" I scratched the back of head trying to pull 'the cool'. Eh, I'm what? Watching TV…?

He rolled his eyes. "I can tell you were in the kitchen. The smell is all over the house! Didn't you turn on the exhaust?" He jumped straight back on topic. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Watch your mouth Hayato!" I quickly looked past him, hoping none of the neighbours had heard. "You know how my _hood_ works. More importantly, what are **you**doing here?"

"You weren't at your workplace. They said you submitted a sick leave and left in a rush" He entered the door but I placed my hand flat on his chest, stopping any further entry. "I can't imagine the nature of the emergency to be simply checking your house" He narrowed his eyes and looked around. His volume lowered considerably "Is something wrong?"

"Why would you say that?"

"You're acting different" He said in a low voice. "And you left your things at my apartment" A ring tone started playing upstairs. Crap. He looked from me, to my cell phone on the door side table and then his eyes traced the stairs. "Aren't you…" He pointed to the upper floor. "Not gonna get that?"

"That's none of your business. Why didn't you tell me my place had been repaired?" He wasn't buying it. In no less than a second, he had punched one of his many rings into a Box Weapon and was now armed. "Hayato!" His eyes turned crystal green –pupil missing- and that was not a good sign. "Stop! Hayato, stopstopstopstop! What are you doing?"

"Get behind me Haru"

"You are not destroying my house again!" I yelled. "Get out this instant! Hayato! Get out!" I pointed sharply towards the door. "You're going mad!"

"Haru, you're in danger"

"Yes, from YOU!" The air suddenly turned ice-cold. I could feel my nerves stiffening and my body felt frozen. Before I even had time to decipher what had happened, Hayato collapsed with his head beside my feet. "Wha-NO! **NO**!" I shrieked as I instantly covered him to shield his body from harm. Mukuro's trident stopped just inches from my spine. Its original target had –no doubt- been Hayato's brain. "What are you doing? And here of all places?" I never thought that I would have guts enough to yell at Mukuro but this is Hayato we were talking about, come on. We're hotheads that are always clashing but that doesn't mean we hate each other, at least, I don't hate him. I don't want Hayato to die. It pains me just seeing him injured and acting all tough because otherwise it would hurt his pride.

"I was merely protecting my beloved" Mukuro replied as he retreated his trident and no, there was no trace of a smile on his face. "No Guardian or Intel is supposed to see my Nagi in Namimori"

I sat up straighter. "That doesn't mean you go around murdering people" I hope there was no brain damage to Hayato. I turned his face and inspected any visible wounds. None. Then I turned his whole body and pulled his head towards my chest so his limp frame was leaning against mine. His lips moved but the movement stopped just as suddenly as it started. "Hayato?" I leaned my head lower hoping to hear words. A fresh fragrance came from him. Perhaps it's perverted of me to think so but he really smells delicious, and I don't mean delicious like eating, it's just… he smells really attractive and well … striking, musky perhaps. I can't explain myself properly but I know that I leaned closer to him to get more of his air. He's gonna kill me.

"I've devised a plan for your boyfriend" Mukuro said.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I still didn't let go of him nor loosened my grip. It would just make me appear nervous and defensive, and besides that, Hayato really smells nice … What would Kyoko say about this…

Mukuro crouched down so he was eye level with me. "I'm just going to get rid of a few memories" I raised a brow. "From the time he dissipated your door" That had my favour "Up till now"

"Will it really work?"

He chuckled. "Miura Haru. I know men who think they're six year old girls, what are you saying?" I frowned. Altering a person's identity and removing certain memories were different things, but not too different for him I guess. He couldn't be lying. The dude was too scary and even if he was lying, it seemed too much like him to not take seriously. "For your sake, I will only make it seem like a vivid dream, hm? Are we on the same page now?"

"I-I guess" I sighed. "You mustn't break into my house like that anymore" Random-ness.

He smiled. "I'm afraid you can't buy anymore time for your boyfriend" I quickly denied it again. Mukuro extended his hand and traced a line across Hayato's forehead. "Forgotten" Cool. That was quick. "Now he just has to be tucked in and he'll wake up thinking he was having a hang over and a really long dream"

"Mukuro-sama!" Chrome rushed down the stairs. The called male also reached the last step in time to catch her as she lunged at him. "I missed you! I missed you so much!"

I looked away from them. It felt like I was invading their privacy and apart from that if they did something like _kissing_ or stuff I'll flat out defend Chrome and say I didn't see anything. So, did this mean she was cheating on Kyoya? I did a quick glimpse at them and looked back at Hayato's face again. Chrome had her hands locked around his waist and was firing away about whatever whilst Mukruo was just looking down at the petite woman while playing with her hair. It was kinda cute. They looked like siblings. The relationship between them was probably as such. Chrome is too modest to cheat anyone, even a jerk-ass as her husband.

I streaked my fingers across Hayato's forehead just the way Mukuro had done. I just noticed my heart was beating a bit faster than usual and it had been a while since it was doing so. I guess my body was feeling uncomfortable with an unmovable one so close, sticking to me actually. I sucked in lungs full of air and exhaled loudly. This was the first time I had touched Hurricane Bomb's face. I touched my thumb to his lower lip and instantly pulled it back. This was too embarrassing and his lips were burning hot. Perfect masculine lips. Like I said … too embarrassing. I don't think I would like anyone touching me while I was out cold.

"Hayato?" I think he stirred but that was probably my imagination more than anything else. He is so going to kill me when he finds out about all the things I'm agreeing about with Mukuro. I will never understand the fuss Hayato makes about Mukuro… no I think I do understand. Who am I kidding to! The man has even possessed me! Being under someone else's control is not fun at all. It felt like I was asleep in a black hole and there was no waking from the endless blackness. "Hey, Rokudo-san!" Mukuro turned his face towards me –he didn't look too pleased with my intrusion. "What if he wakes up now?"

The older illusionist sighed. "Excuse me for just a while, love" Chrome released him. "I will see that your friend's boyfriend is taken care of before we continue"

"He's not my boyfriend!" again… What does it take with this man? Mukuro chose to ignore me. He yanked the unconscious body off me. "Careful!" He was being too forceful with the poor man. "You're being too rough!" I reprimanded and helped Mukuro to hold onto Hayato more gently. Then, in the cloak of heavy fog –which seemingly appeared out of nowhere- they disappeared. "I'm concerned…"

Chrome smiled reassuringly at me. "Mukuro-sama was only teasing you" I could tell that much. I'm actually worried about the Storm Guardian. "Gokudera-san will be fine"

I nodded. Why was Chrome being told to stay away from the Guardians? "Can I ask you- never mind" After what happened in the kitchen, its best if I keep my mouth shut.

As if reading my mind, "If you want to know about the Guardians, I don't mind" She walked to the sofa and sat down. I locked the front door and seated myself perpendicular to her direction. "The Guardians have a duty to each other, to the family" She started. "If Kyo-kun is looking for me, the Guardians are then obliged to tell him about my whereabouts. It's the oath of trust" She looked at the blank television. "I don't want to see him now. I need some time to think about things. I hope you don't think I'm-"

"I am behind you one hundred percent!" I declared. "Even if Hibari-san manages to get in the house I'll pound him" -highly unlikely- "before he even has a chance to spot you!" I will protect Chrome in every way that is possible for me. I know she'll make the right choice in the end. This is her happiness.

The rest of the day went normally. We finished the cake. Mukuro dropped in unannounced at dinner time. We had cake for dessert. Then the three of us sat in the TV lounge. Chrome cuddled up to him and I chose to sit at a separate sofa. My head was distracted between the show and the two illusionists. They were talking in low voices. I could see their lips moving but I couldn't hear them because of the volume. I didn't want to lower the TV but I really wanted in on their conversation. It was a bit awkward you know. You leave the host out of your conversation and tell me it's not socially awkward.

Chrome wasn't paying attention to the entertainment box at all; she was staring off into space as she talked. Mukuro appeared to be interested in the show but that was probably a put-on. He responded to Chrome's words accordingly and a number of times his eyes met with mine whilst I was sneaking glances at them. After being caught a number of times I stopped turning towards them. Too uncomfortable. The man was too good for me.

My cell started vibrating. I looked at the caller ID. "Hey Hayato-kun!"

"Don't call me that!" He replied sharply. Did I ever mention that he felt weird when people used honorifics with his first name? He spent so much time abroad and dealing with foreign people that he forgot to use respectful phrases most of the time and because of that he told us not to use them with his name either. He was trying to enforce 'What goes around comes around'. I got up and left the lounge to a more silent place i.e. the kitchen.

"What's up?"

"You sound cheerful. Finally got laid?"

"Shut the hell up!" I slammed my fist on the counter. Way to ruin the mood. Everyone in the world knows I have issues about _men_ and no one is justified in teasing me about it. "What do you want?" I said harshly.

Silence… "Nothing"

I could feel my lip twitch. "Then what did you call for?"

"Can't I just call to hear your voice?" Yep. Something is definitely going up there and he's not telling me. "Are you busy right now?"

I sighed. "Seriously Hayato. Tell me what's wrong. I am a mature woman and I can handle myself just fine. What's going on?" I wonder if this is some sort of a side effect from what Mukuro did to him. Oh! My nails are growing in perfect shape. I inspected my fingers more closely and sat down on the tiled floor to get comfortable.

"Okay Haru, take me very seriously. Keep your doors and windows locked at all times, in fact, go do that right now"

"You're worried about me _huh,_have you gotten laid recently, dear Hayato?"

"That's private! And I'm simply troubled, alright? So don't make me get down there to straighten you up. Check your security system. Run a check through every room of the house"

"I know self-defense"

"That's why I'm concerned" You never get tired of insulting me, do you? "You're not going to believe this but a few days ago I was hacked while I was working on my laptop!" It's not too hard to believe. For every genius God made a rival in the world. "I know you're not taking me seriously and probably thinking about religious shit now" Yea, he reads me like a book, even when he's not looking at me!

"No I'm not"

"Haru, the hacker took away some private information that included information about you"

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Incidents like these had occurred multiple times before and nothing had ever actually happened, but expect the familiga to get worked up about nothing. Thus, I wasn't worried at all and saw no reason for him to be either. The hacker just downloaded the wrong type of information and has probably cussed at himself and deleted it already. "What? So I'm going to have a stalker now?"

"You might just have an assassin waiting for you in your living room!" He remarked. The only people that were in my living room were Chrome and Mukuro and they were far from unwelcome in my house –I'll be a little loose to Mukuro for now. If there were any assassins hiding they'd be the first ones to know, having all those amazing tracking and detecting abilities. Come to think of it … Mukuro is an assassin … He hates the mafia … He doesn't want anyone to know Chrome's been here … "Haru?" I am indirectly associated with mafia-men. Is there a possibility he would get rid of me to protect Chrome from whatever? "Haru!"

"Hold on, I'm thinking about something" Oh my God! What if it was Mukuro who hacked Hayato's CP drive? He knew my address! He could also have tracked me down, but … If Mukuro wants to kill me later on, there's no doubt he will … I quickly looked up when a shadow loomed over me. My breath was held in my throat. "I think I'm going to die"

"Don't kid with me!"

Mukuro bent below the counter level to tower over my sitting position on the floor. He pressed a single gloved finger to his lips and I could practically hear the air as it rushed out of his mouth through his lips in an act of silence. His other hand hovered a few inches from my face as he curled his fingers –flexing and relaxing them- in an indication to silently hand him my cellular phone. An appropriate time to gulp.

"Hayato … I'll call you back later. I have work to do"

"…Alright…" He quietly agreed. "Stay safe"

"Good night"

"Night"

The one time I didn't want him to stop talking and he decides not talking is good for me. Seriously! I handed my phone to Mukuro. He simply titled his head before observing the small device.

"Modest" The male commented. I felt my face flaring up. Oh right, now I had convicts making fun of my income! At least I work hard for what I earn! I don't kill people or threaten mother-nature to make things work my way. Mukuro lowered himself so he was crouched in front of me. Somehow the intent behind his smile seemed to shine more. "He's onto you" I have no idea what to make of THAT. Does that mean Hayato thinks I'm harbouring a terrorist or does that mean Hayato thinks I wiped his memory away? "Try avoiding him" Never had a better piece of advice, I'll try keeping that in mind. He put my cell on the counter top and I began feeling woozy. "Good night" and bedtime it was for me.

I woke up from a dreamless sleep the next morning. I checked my cell for the time and wondered why I bothered with wall clocks. My cell was in a slumber-land of its own. I tried turning it back on but it didn't respond. Mukuro must have screwed with it sometime. Now I see the use of good old analogue wall clocks. It was very early, early enough to get ready for work leisurely. Brakes! How did I get to my bedroom? I wasn't in my pajamas! How did I go to slee- **Mukuro…**

"MUKURO!" I burst out of my room and barged into the master bedroom. Empty. That guy was so going to pay! I show him decent hospitality, even though he's unwelcome as ever and he goes around and knocks me out in my own house! I quickly jumped the stairs and broke into the guest room. "Muk-!" I instantly shut up and closed the door just as hurriedly as I had opened it.

Chrome and Mukuro were asleep … in the same bed.

What to make of it . . .

They had all their clothes on so that means nothing happened, or I can pray nothing happened! Aww man! I don't wanna clean sheets that will have the aftermath of- The door swung open and Mukuro peered out.

"Anything I can help you with?"

I waved him off. "I'm going to work. Help yourselves to breakfast" I dashed up the stairs and started to get ready for a pretend normal day. After making sure I had everything in my case and double checking my dressing –from the sake of pure boredom and avoiding the illusionists- I made sure no one was around before exiting the safety of my room. Silently moving around and entering the kitchen, I put out the things that Chrome and Mukuro might need for breakfast. I also scribbled down a small note that said '_Take care of yourself; I'll be back by four. If you fall short of food, check the store room or deep freeze. Take care_' I put it face front on the most visible spot.

I can't believe this. I'm feeling like a fugitive in my own house. And I can't believe Mukuro managed to destroy my cell phone when I so obviously failed to do it. When I wanted the stupid thing to break apart, it didn't! When I wanted it around for safety, it abandoned me! And that too after all the money I spent on it. _Tch._ Life is such a bitch! I wonder how many times I've said that statement to myself. But, regrettably, it is nothing but the bare truth. There are those lucky people out there who get their way in everything they want AND I HATE THEM! Here I am working hard for my income, paying for my father's medical bills, protecting the environment and humanity itself and there are these self-obsessed frigging rich people who don't give a damn because they earn easy money, like, the mafia maybe? Well, not everyone is bad but I feel like I'll go into debt and I can't stand taking money from other people, even if it's donation. Everything I want to do, I want to do it from my own money, from my own sweat and blood. And not literal blood either.

As I turned around to leave I found myself cornered. Mukuro placed both his hands on either side of me on the counter top behind me. I refrained my eyes from moving too lower on his body because his top was open and I didn't want him thinking that I was checking him out. Who in their right mind would even want to check him out?

"For some reason …" He inched his face closer and I tilted backwards automatically. My bag is out of reach and the stun gun is in there. I didn't think I would need it so early in the day. "… You remind me of M.M" What the eff! How dare he compare me to that bitch! "Perhaps it's your short hair or your aggressive nature" He hummed. "I can't exactly put my finger on it"

"I'm not a slut! Get off me!" When he refused to budge, I ducked under his arm and escaped. Pushing him away would not have been a good option because trust me, pushing away these bastards just lands you into worst positions. Wait, pushing away shouldn't even be an option in their case! Goddamn mafia.

"kufufufu~" He leaned lazily against the counter and stared at me. "M.M isn't a slut. She is simply my bedmate" Yea, I pretty much figured that was the case. That's all women are in the eyes of men. Bedding them is just a sport. No, it's a competition actually; see who can get more women laid. That's their simple minded logic of existence. GWAH! I'm getting so mad this early in the morning! I'm so mad I'm shaking. Oh no, that means the waterworks will follow. I jabbed a finger in Mukuro's direction hoping to get a few insults out before the tears leaked and he certainly noticed it shaking. He chuckled. "Look at yourself"

"Shut up!" I grabbed my bag and barged out of the house. I'm only putting up with his bullshit because of Chrome. She needs this perverted womanizing bastard to comfort her for a while because he was the only family she knew. He's not even her family to begin with but the closest thing to family she has. How can she stand that freak? I certainly don't remember allowing him to stay the night, or to stay at my place at all! She just said he would be visiting and that's that! But this is Mukuro we're talking about. I guess his definition of every word must be twisted and retarded. I hate him.

I stood nervously at the gate hoping the fucking illusionist wasn't spying on me through the window or anything. God! He can make people so paranoid at times! No wonder Tsuna still feels uneasy around him. Over time Mukuro has possessed all the Guardians except Tsuna. He had even taken over Kyoko's body to stab Tsuna. Sadistic twisted bastard. He's worse than Belphegor! Worse than the sadistic Varia combined together! Lussuria –for the time being- has sidelined his hobby of collecting bodies for personal pleasure and now has his eyes fixed on a pretty faced university boy. That's a development I guess. But last time I heard he was stalking the boy, which is not good. What's he thinking anyway? He's a man way over thirty and lusting for a boy around nineteen.

Major headache attack.

Thank God the van came. I was considering using my jeep. Come to think of it, why do I even keep it? I don't use it anyway. I would prefer the subway, bus or any other form of public transport any day. Every time I try to get rid of the jeep I think of my father and stop. It was a birthday present from him and I can never bring myself to get rid of it. Namimori grew too much in ten years. Too many things happened in just ten years since I met Tsuna and Reborn. At times I regret crossing paths with them, but there are lots of happy moments to cherish too.

Today was going to be the worst day of my life! I could feel the uncomfortable tingling of my nerves. It started out horribly and it was probably going to end up with me dead. I tried turning on my cell again but to no avail. Damn you Mukuro. I've never hated Hayato as much as I hate you now.

As I predicted, the day turned from bad and crashed to worse. A fire broke out on the upper floor but was brought under control and we got back to work. My lunch break was ruined thanks to Hayato. "Haru-chan! You have a call from a Gokudera-san!"

"Hahi! What does he want now?"

He wanted to know if a certain story had occurred in real life and when he started reciting it, I felt my blood slow down in my veins. It was the memory Mukuro had erased from him, or from what I remember accurately, the memory that Mukuro had changed into a dream. He even went on to ask if he had been drunk when I came to his place because it felt too real to him to be a dream. I spent my entire break bickering with him on the phone. "You moron, why would I want to come to your place? I don't even know your address!" I slammed the phone down after a heated "I WOULDN'T COME TO YOUR HOUSE EVEN IF IT WERE TO SAVE MY LIFE!"

And guess what happened at off-time?

If you guessed Hayato waiting to surprise me outside my cubicle, order yourself a feast! And the surprise wasn't a sweet romantic little surprise either, it was the 'I've-caught-you-red-handed-NOW-YOU'RE-DEAD' kind of surprise attack. At the sight of a bright haired head –his plain hair stands out- I instantly whirled on my heel and buried myself behind my desk. He noticed my sudden exit-turned-to-work antic and followed me in. "Get out! I'm working! A woman can't work without thinking she's being harassed!"

"You lied!" He slammed his hands down on my desk which made me jump in my seat. "It wasn't a dream, it happened! Why did you lie?"

"What? What are you going on about?"

"I could tell from your voice you were lying. That's why I looked deeper into it" He placed a folder in front of me. "Everything in my supposed dream occurred in reality"

I pushed the folder away. "You're getting on my nerves" What would the truth be doing on paper anyway? I have to go back and see if Chrome is still at home. I'll be damned if Mukuro's still there too. I guess the main reason I didn't touch his papers was because I feared it might have solid things against me –like the truth for instance "I'll excuse your intrusion" I grabbed my things and tried pushing past him. Very unexpectedly, his large hands grasped me and I was slammed square against ground, back flipped upward as he pushed his weight against me. "What are-" His fingers roughly moved on my scalp. He parted my hair at the back and kept his fingers at the back of my neck. "I swear to God if you don't get off me this instant-"

"Sorry" He got off. "Are you ok?"

"The hell I'm ok!" I stood up and straightened my clothes. "What in the world is wrong with you? You're making me insane!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me explain..."

"I've had enough of you for this week, Hayato. Please leave me alone" I picked my discarded bag and started looking around for my cell phone. Where did the stupid thing fall off to? It's not even working so why am I bothering with it! But I continued searching for it for the fear of making eye contact with the moron. This incident gave me a good reason to get mad at Hayato. Now he would avoid me until I cooled down and all I have to do is act enraged for a long week, enough to buy time for Chrome.

"I didn't bring you to my apartment to get you to apologize to the Tenth, I brought you there to protect you!" That had my interest. I stopped looking around for the lost cell phone and he took it as an indication to continue. "Whoever the hacker was, the person has been hunting the people he gathered data on" I still didn't look up to him. "We found Shoichi in a dumpster yesterday"

"Is he…"

"Barely alive, but thanks to Ryohei he will be able to pull through" Hayato leveled himself with me. "The hacker downloaded information about individuals that didn't carry flames. He's out kidnapping the Vongolas that can't defend themselves with box weapons and he's not alone" I will proceed to admit that I am a bit scared now. "He took information on twenty one individuals before I stopped him. Nine of our brothers are dead and four are in intensive care. We never noticed them missing because they replaced the real person with a Mist replica until his body was dumped"

"How did I come into this?" I made sure my voice sounded firm and pissed, and I am proud to say, it did.

He bowed his head. "You're a part of the family so it's only normal that we have you in records. I didn't mean to hurt you in anyway. Mist replicas break up when you place pressure on a sensitive nerve. You were acting very different so I was afraid that they had taken you away" He leaned closer "Your tantrum with the Tenth gave me an excuse to take you in without worrying you. I was only protecting you Haru. It's my duty as the Tenth's right hand" In other words, he was apologizing in an indirect manner. Hayato had never been good with expressing himself and you really have to see through the crap he dumps on you and read between the lines to understand how he's feeling. And right now, he's feeling very guilty.

"Well, I'm worried now. Does Tsuna know?"

"Tenth is very concerned for your safety, but you're a stupid woman who doesn't see sense!" He's mad now because he's embarrassed at himself. "If you don't want to stay with me I'll transfer you to a safe house, you didn't have to drug me!" Uh-oh, we're on a topic I'd rather not discuss. The poor soul doesn't know it was Mukuro who wiped his head clean of one whole day. "I nearly convinced myself that you were just in my dream, but I looked into it anyway" Nosy as always. The guy is sharper than he lets on "Though you were erased from the tapes, your breakfast bill was definitely present with me. That's why I thought I had been drugged by the hacker and you were taken away right under my nose. I had a right to be suspicious of you" He smiled. "But I'm glad you're still in one piece"

I guess that explains his weird paranoid kind of behaviour around me lately. Instantly jumping into action and stalking me like crazy. Leave it to Hayato to fret over everything.

I finally looked up at him and smiled back. "You moron" He ruffled my hair and I slapped away his hand. Why does he ruffle my hair anyway? It's so annoying! It looks cute when he does it to annoy Lambo or to Ryohei's kid but I'm a fully grown woman! I like to think that he's teasing me about my short hair because there can be no other explanation. And yea, Ryohei had a kid with Hana about a year back. They're not married but they're engaged. Plans for their wedding are nowhere to be seen but they've made it certain that they will definitely marry. Ryohei didn't want to endanger his wife and kids so he chose to remain quiet about everything –see the problem with being in the mafia? Only the direct relations and families know what's up with the two, most people mistake Hana for a divorced mom.

"So what about it? You don't seem to be much fazed" Honey, that's because I already have two people in my house who carry tridents with them all the time and apparently one of them can make you believe you're a six year old girl for the rest of your life. If anything, I'm more afraid of the illusionist already in my care compared to the one who'll be coming to torture me.

"I would like to stay in my house" He was definitely shocked at my reply.

"You really are stupid" He murmured. "I just told you that you might die today but you still want to stay there?"

"I feel the safest place in the world is my own house" I started searching for my phone again. "I'll send a message to you every five minutes or whatever" I looked at him "but please, just let me stay in my own place"

He closed his eyes. "You're impossible" out of nowhere he pulled out the device I had been searching for ages and handed it to me. "It looks messed up"

"It is"

"I'll get it fixed" He took it back from my open palm.

"Great! Thanks!"

"I'll also send you my address, incase you ever feel like…" He waved his hand in a circle trying NOT to sound clichéd. "You better apologize to the Tenth and his fiancé soon. The wedding is almost upon us and they would be really upset if you refused their hospitality"

"It's frigging months away!"

"Preparations have to be made beforehand, not one day before the special day" Like I would apologize so soon. Hn. What do they take me for? Okay, so this part of the day went a bit up and down but when I got back home, the day just turned a hell lot worse.

'_Out for fun!'_was sticking on the refrigerator door, courtesy of Mukuro and Chrome of course and Lambo and I-pin were waiting for me at the gate.

"Haru-ne-san!" Lambo waved. "You promised to help me out with a few subjects!" Lambo was an idiot. I could cook something up and he would readily eat that lie, so Chrome could remain protected in his presence but I had my doubts on I-pin. Apart from that, Lambo was a Guardian, and if Mukuro saw him here...

**Close**


	5. Befall Madness

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #5 Befall Madness**

I should have known taking in Mukuro would naturally mean trouble. Days used to pass by like snapping fingers and now the day just doesn't move at all, it drags! I'm certain my nights will be just as delusional and paranoid, or worse, for the fear of this sick bastard somehow getting his hands on me. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided the house would look better decorated with my intestines.

My list of things-to-do is getting heavy.

One: Keep Chrome out of sight of the Guardians.

Two: Tutor Lambo on Math and other subjects relative to math.

Three: Stay clear of looming kidnappers who're torturing flame-less Vongola to leak information from them.

Four: Keep Mukuro from slaughtering people in my house.

Five: Keep a reasonable distance from Mukuro.

Six: Check up on father.

Seven: Complete the assignments I brought home.

Eight: Any other thing that decided to take my time will end up here.

First, I took in Lambo and I-pin and arranged snacks for them. Lambo crashes at my house a lot and he's a pig so I have to keep my storage full for his sake. I excused myself from them and called my father. By then Lambo had helped himself to the television and I-pin just slumped helplessly because no matter how much she chided the ex-Bovino, he remained a spoiled brat. Daddy was doing fine and the doctors even assured him that his reports were improved compared to the previous test. That was a sigh of relief. My parents were pretty aged when they had me, their first child, so my father was at the time of life when medical problems just didn't seem to stop. Apart from that my father also confided that his job overseas was more thrilling compared to the university back home. That was a plus point in my day, not only was daddy's health improving but he was also enjoying his research.

Next call was to Chrome's number. "Hello, Haru-san"

"Uh, hey. Um… is he there?" I was careful not to use names incase the kids overheard me. I don't really expect them to pry or betray me but Lambo's duties come before anything and it always helps to be cautious.

"Mukuro-sama?"

"Yes" The cell phone shifted hands and no sooner Mukuro's melodious laugh exited the ear piece of my wireless. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I didn't call to chat" I could feel him smiling his compelling smile, a smile that could sink people to madness if they were exposed to it for too long. I think that'll be me. "Why did you leave the house? Why did you take her out of the house?" I demanded. "You went against the orders you gave me"

"We are merely at Kokuyo" He replied calmly. "My dear Nagi is safe here. It's her sanctuary" I raised a brow.

"When are you getting back?"

"Restless for us now? In need of companions?" He teased.

You frikkin' SOB. "I have _plenty_ of companions in my living room right now so I'm asking you to stay out till mid night, if you must" Damn yea I was pissed. Who the hell does he think he is? Just because he can read minds and do other crappy things from genjutsu doesn't make him God! He thinks he knows everything about me. Men are always so ahead of themselves, simple minded pitiful creatures. In case Mukuro decided to drop in to surprise me I informed him about my 'visitors' "Lambo is here for some help with his studies"

"The Lightening boy . . . Alright" I could feel the shift in his mood. "Thank you for informing us, Miura Haru" Well, I'll make a deduction that he was indeed planning on dropping in on my guests and my information just burst his bubble. "By the way, two peculiar men had been snooping around your house since last night" My heart stopped beating. I could practically hear its LUB DUB LUB DUB as it started functioning again. "I put them in their place so you'll find them in the yard. Better get rid of the bodies before someone else trips along, kufufufu~" The line was cut.

I felt a bit breathless. Men had been watching my house since last night? Wait, Mukuro moved in last night so he must have noticed it at that time only. What if they had been there since before? What if they were Vongola men sent to look out for me? I'll be in so much shit if that's the case. Hayato is going to obliterate me! And we were finally on good terms! Shit! Shit! Shit! I was supposed to keep him from murdering people in my property and he just went ahead and did it when I wasn't around! And now I have to get rid of their bodies too. Wah! Oh God! What did I get myself into? I hope they weren't Vongola! Oh please God, don't let them be Vongola.

As I was taking the phone back to the lounge, it started ringing. "Hello… Miura residence"

"You sound off" Hayato! It looks like you have a genetic trait that always puts in you places where I'd rather not have you. "Did anything happen?"

"Lambo happened" I can't believe I have to get rid of dead bodies. I guess that's the eighth thing on my agenda. Oh no! I'll have to do it before they start smelling! What am I thinking? It's like I'm a criminal. "I have to tutor him on Math and I have so many other things to do" like getting rid of two dead possibly Vongola men "but I can't turn him down. I promised" How did I miss the bodies in the yard? I walked across it to the front door! Maybe Mukuro stuffed them in a bag or in the trash bin.

"You can send him over to me, or should I come down there?" How do I get past Lambo and I-pin? Should I risk waiting a few hours before making any sort of suspicious moves? The first thing I should do is check where the men are and then figure out what to do with them.

"You know he would never sit still with you. He'll probably disappear before you set foot ten yards around him" Bodies are normally found in dumpsters. I'll just dispose of them that way too. And since Vongola men are being found in alleyways there won't be a finger pointed at me … I seriously am beginning to think like a criminal. Wait, I did nothing wrong! I should just call the police and say I found them like that and blah blah blah, but that might endanger the familiga to exposure. Just thinking about it is so exhausting!

"Cattle brat" Hayato mumbled. "Okay, just keep me updated on you" He chuckled and so did I, just to go with the flow. "Good night" He went off before I could give back a reply. I didn't stick around with a sour face either. I quickly put the phone back in the lounge and went to the yard. Surely, there were two black plastic bags in the far corner which I had missed noticing on my entry. Mukuro … if I could do something about it, you'd be dead three times over by now.

I went back to the kids. I-pin had started practicing her flexibility –which, by the way, is very impressive- in her abandoned fighting style whilst also keeping an ear on the explanations I was giving to Lambo, she was also a student in the same grade but didn't quite go to a prestigious school as Lambo did. Lambo had a very short attention span for serious topics so I had to repeat things over and over again for him. That's why he often came to stick around my place, even when bunking his classes, because as he once mentioned himself and I quote, 'You're the only person who can bear me without going mad'. So in a way, Lambo is my pride and it also tells me that I'm good with children or abnormal teens like Lambo at least.

They had come when the sun was blazing and when they were leaving, the stars had conquered the sky. I still had to finish my assignment and get rid of the dead men in my yard. As soon as they left, I poked around the black plastic bags. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to touching them when I knew that there were two bodies in there that were once living and breathing and had families. I felt like it was my fault. "I'm such a child!"

I could just have given Chrome the keys to my house and left for a safe place myself. No one would have suspected a thing if I told them a cousin was staying for a while because this was the Miura residence they were talking about and that too in a traditional neighbourhood. But now that I've brought this hell upon myself I guess I'll have to do something about it too. My father always said that you wouldn't be able to solve a problem until you recognized it and its source. Even though he was talking about math, this also applies in real life. My first problem was getting arrested for being in possession of dead bodies and the source of that problem was Rokudo Mukuro. According to the equation, I first had to get rid of the bodies and then Mukuro.

Come to think of it, what if this was all just a messed up joke on the bastard's part? There was no stench emitting from the bags so surely they must be stuffed with something just to scare me. Is it first of April so soon? No. If it had been Lambo would have been the first one to attack. Nonetheless, I decided to check the contents of the bags first. After mustering up enough courage –which took up a total of over thirty minutes of fretting- I managed to pull loose a cord from the first bag.

It easily slipped open with one tug and instantly a horrible stench spread around as piles of limbs began falling over one another. Mukuro said only two men were supposed to be there. From what I was seeing, this was a whole collection of gore. As if to top it off, a head rolled down and stopped just at my feet with its hollow eyes wide open and lips that were pulled back in a silent scream of pure dread. What ever they died seeing, it was very unpleasant.

When I had started screaming? I had no idea. I just knew I was out of my senses when my back touched the cold brick wall behind me and I was kicking the grass to get as far away from the horror as I possibly could. Half the things didn't even make sense to me. Like what the hell were my neighbour's annoying grandchildren laughing about in the corner? What the hell were they even doing there? Why was I seeing the night sky? Why couldn't I move? But when I closed my eyes to get my thoughts straight, a contorted face kept popping up and bouncing towards me, as if it was waiting to pounce in my lap and be cuddled with. It was enough to send my body thrashing against everything but I knew my movements were restricted for some reason. I felt a harsh throb in my arm and soon it was stinging and itching. Before I knew it, my vision was blurred and I was fading in and out of reality.

When my head finally straightened out, my first question was, "I'm finally dead?" The brightness around me said so. My eyes could barely open from the white glow of everything. Everything was too bright and seemed too pure to be worldly. What did I do to die so young?

"Haru-san…?" It was unmistakably an angel's voice. Soft, gentle, delicate, this voice could go unheard if any other sound came into contact with it, it would be overshadowed. I felt a warm hand caressing my cheek … no, not warm, a hot hand. It was burning hot, as if suffering from a high fever. "I think she's cold…" I wondered who touched me like that. The touch was familiar somehow, but distant at the same time. Was it possibly my father? I inclined my head more into the touch, to get more of it so I could accurately pin point whom it was because my eyes refused to open completely, despite my extreme effort.

"Please refrain from touching her too much" That voice… it sounded like … Gokudera Hayato. Unfortunately that guy will never make it to heaven but if they have someone equally good-looking with just as sexy vocals, I don't think anyone will mind.

"Thank you for your help. It is appreciated very much" And this voice is unquestionably Sawada Tsunayo-

"TSUNA!" Where ever the pent up anger came from, it gave me a strong resolve to mar the man's face. I wanted to hit him because his acceptance destroyed Chrome's life. Because he refused to return my feelings for so many years, I felt like I'd wasted half my life chasing after him. Because he was stealing my best friend from me. Because of him I hated my best friend now. Because of him Hayato and I could never get along. Because of him I knew Mukuro. Because he destroyed my life! He crushed me the day I poured out my heart to him. He looked at me with such pitiful eyes and simply said 'I already like someone else'. I knew that you bastard! Everyone knew that! Everyone also knew I liked you! Everyone knew Kyoko would never think of you any higher than she thought of any other guy. I knew it, yet I confessed! The least you could have done is repay me with something.

My body was jerked back by the exact force I had used to push it forward. I could feel strains on parts of my body. My eyes finally adjusted to the lighting and I immediately realized this was nowhere close to heaven. As I scanned my body, I found my hands bound to the bed sides and three belts on my upper body holding me down. My arms were bare and there were minor cuts left and right, some covered with sticky bandages.

What was going on? I could feel a strange tingling in my veins.

"Haru-san?" Byakuran murmured, his head tilted sideways as he looked down at me. He was sitting on my bedside and I could tell he was debating whether to do something or not. I instantly knew he had been the one whose hand brought sense to me. I knew his touch was familiar but I couldn't exactly tell how, now I knew. He had cured me once before too, just a few years back and that time my injuries had been fatal. That was the only time I saw him. Last time he caressed my face I thought something fishy was going on but his touch this time was exactly the same as last. When I confided in Takeshi he told me that when Byakuran cured him, the albino had also touched him in a manner that would appear strange to an onlooker. We both agreed that it must give the violet-eyed male some form of satisfaction or something, to give him a sense of achievement that he'd done well for someone.

I looked around and I was in a type of company I would never allow myself to be in while held down with leather straps. Tsuna, Hayato, Ryohei, Takeshi, Shamal and oh God somebody get me out of here! I pulled against my restraints, flaying and tried to tug my hands free but the weight applied on my shoulders was more powerful and they successfully pinned me against the bed. "Relax, Haru-san" Tsuna.

"Get away from me!" I was amazed at how loose the belts were –but my hands were bound rather tightly- and I began fighting against their grips.

"I told you we shouldn't loosen them!" Shamal said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she tore them open and killed one of us!" He's probably trying to get back at me for slapping him and then disabling his genital for a whole day.

"Haru-san, please relax" Tsuna tried soothing but his voice just made it worse for me. At some point I had suddenly become terrified when men unknown to me tugged the leather belts and tightened them.

"NO!" I started kicking and my legs were instantly held down. I screamed REALLY loud and the whole bed shook as I fought with all I was worth. I've never been fond of tight places. I've never liked being in situations which are out of my control. I'm never secure around unknown men and seeing a doctor ushering out the Guardians and other medics restraining me is a pretty damn out of control situation. Men touching my skin is not something I like. There are exceptions and they are the cases where I know I can play cards too, where I feel secure and I trust them. Doctors were struck off my 'trust' list a long time ago. Back in high school, one of my class fellows was taken advantage off when her dentist gave her a sedative that sent her to sleep. When the girl woke up not only was her dental problem solved but months later she also found out she was carrying a child. The disciplinary committee really outdid themselves when the news reached them but no amount of retribution could bring back what she had lost and the shame she was drowned in. She left Namimori. No one could contact her ever since.

I also read a few similar cases in the news where patients were used by doctors to fulfill their own selfish needs. Every medic out there is not evil but I had enough things racked in my head to make me move in a paranoid manner at a hospital.

"Don't touch me! DON'T! NO!" They pulled a strap across my feet but I slipped one foot free. Then they held down my knees and secured my thighs. Nonononononono… "Don't!" I could feel my eyes watering. It was a combination of fear and anger. It reminded me horribly of Mukuro. Instantly I recalled why I was here in the first place. "YOU BASTARD! DON'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE! HA-"

"I'm right here" He said that in such a smooth tone, I wondered if he really was concerned. "If you're a good girl for three minutes, I'll undo this myself" Everyone who heard had stopped to stare at him.

My reply came a full minute late. I was so surprised I had no idea how to react. " … Don't mess with me…" I frowned weakly at him. My heart beating was still oddly high, but this time it was accompanied by a fluttering feeling. Out of all the relations I had, I knew Hayato was the one I trusted most with my safety and sanity, with my life.

His face was impassive. "I'm serious" He looked at Tsuna, who gave his nod of approval before leaving the room. Ryohei and Takeshi exchanged a few confused looks before following after their boss. The medical attendants were the next to leave. Byakuran had disappeared early on. Before long, the last person left and it was just me and Hayato. The second the door was slid shut, he started loosening up the straps. "You owe me double now" He still remembers the breakfast.

"How did you-"

"Because I know you like myself" His eyes looked up just for a second to meet with mine before going back. "Actually, I might not know myself as well as I know others" One of my hands was free and my upper body was completely free as well. I started undoing the other hand myself. "Have you lost weight?" I looked at him, a bit astounded. His cheeks were flaring up but he didn't meet my gaze. When ever he blushes, it kind of stands out because of his light coloured hair and cream coloured skin. He can never hide his blush with his natural features.

"I don't know. I don't think so. Why?"

He shrugged. He was unbuckling the belt on my thighs. I realized my dressing was not mine, it was a hospital gown. The water proof material was in direct contact with my skin and that meant I was naked underneath, save for the shorts they had put on me. The gown barely reached mid-thigh on me. "Was I in surgery?" I asked. There could be no other explanation for it. These kind of hospital dresses were worn by people taken in or out of the surgical ward.

He nodded. "When I arrived they were just wheeling you out" He finally looked up at me. "The blood on you wasn't yours. They didn't notice it in the emergency rush but it became obvious when they were washing it away. Actually a subway accident also took place a few hours ago. They confused you with the other patients"

Subway accident? I guess that would explain why the Guardians were gathered here. Something must have happened to someone they know. But more importantly "Where did the weight subject come from?" I demanded. He instantly got off and opened the blinds to look out the window. I undid the rest of the belts myself. "If you're not going to answer you shouldn't have bothered brining it up"

"You just looked more … slimmer than the last time I saw you" I instantly folded my hands across my chest protectively and rather offended. "No Haru, I'm not calling you fat or flat" He chuckled. "Just from the last time we all went to the uh, beach"

I gaped at him. Out of all the things he could think of when looking at me in a surgery dress, the beach is what he came up with? "That's real mature" I opened the sheet placed on the bedside table and draped it over myself. The more I'm covered the more I'll feel better. He also turned around to show me his smirk. He thinks that look has women swooning over him. Well, if it works on other women, it certainly doesn't work on me – which makes me question my sexuality. Yes, admittingly, it is a rather striking facial expression and plenty attractive on Hayato but that's where the line stops. That look is only worth adoring from a distance and absolutely no excuse for a woman to be in bed with him. Alas! Practical life is otherwise! According to Lambo, Hayato has a line of women waiting their turn at night with him! I refused to believe it. I still do. But sometimes the Storm Guardian just says things that get me worked up that Lambo might be telling the truth, for instance, I once overheard some person say to him 'Women sure do make a lot of noise in bed' and he laughed along with that, adding his own point to it. I didn't want to hear it.

His expression turned to his normal serious dull self. "Haru, are you in a mood to talk?"

"Depends on what you're asking"

"Some pretty serious questions"

"Shoot me"

He dragged a chair towards my bed, setting its back to face me and sitting on it backwards. "What happened?"

I sighed. When I closed my eyes … the sense of fear and being attacked by something supernatural was far weaker than before. I reopened them and turned fully to Hayato. "I don't know" I'll have to watch my tongue so that nothing about Chrome slips out. He doesn't know anything so he's only concerned about what happened to _me_.

"Seriously, what happened? The police pulled out bodies from your house"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I just saw the bag, opened it and somehow I was teleported here"

He shook his head. "You were hallucinating from shock, terror, genjutsu" My heart stopped "whatever" he waved his hand and I resumed normal breathing again. They traced genjutsu on me? That would mean Mukuro left a present for anyone who would open the bag and I was the idiot who just went ahead and did it. "They stunned you and brought you in because you were injuring yourself and others. You were running away from something" Yea, a head that was bouncing after me. "You were probably under a discarded illusion" Strike on!

"Who did the bodies… belong to?"

His lips slid against each other and I wondered if he was grating his teeth. Damn. Mukuro murdered Vongola men. "They were the hackers and some of our men" I couldn't hide my surprise. "Two of them were the hackers" He answered my unasked question. "Four were ours" that were supposed to keep sight of me. Blame me. It's my fault. Say 'I-told-you so'. Say I didn't listen to you and now other people had to pay. He sighed. "All of them . . . it isn't possible for all of them to die like this … they couldn't possibly have done that to each other. Some outsider interfered"

"It's my fault, isn't it?"

He placed his chin on top of his folded arms. "No"

"If I had listened to you and gone to a safe house, this wouldn't have happened"

"Unless you took their lives, it isn't your fault at all. We can't control things that happen around us. Just because you sit in a bus and it crashes leaving you the only survivor, you can't blame that on yourself. Unless you destroyed the brakes, the bus accident can never be your fault"

Oh, Hayato. It's at times like these that I really feel like I love you. Truly and dearly. I think I'd want a husband like him; supportive, understanding and reliable. But I want my husband to take me as his top priority, not his fucking boss. Once we were talking about matrimony –just a random topic of conversation that came up- and he said that it was a law in the mafia world that your boss is your top priority; even if your wife is giving birth, you will respond to your boss if he calls you. I was like WTF! And Hayato went on to say that THAT was exactly what he would do even if such a law didn't exist. I was even more WTF! I wouldn't want a husband who abandons my side when I'm giving birth! So there's the major drawback of marrying Hayato.

"You're zoning out" He pointed.

I waved my hand. "I'm just thinking"

He inhaled deeply. "I believe Rokudo Mukuro might have something to do with tonight's incident"

I stared at him. He had hit spot on! "…Why?"

He remained silent for a while. "I contacted Hibari in the afternoon today" I became a bit anxious for what was coming. "Chrome's been missing for two days now" I acted surprised. "We have reason to believe that she's with Mukuro, actually, we're quite certain she's with him" I shook my head. "There's a possibility they were coming to you when they came across the mafiamen and killed them"

"Chrome would never do such a thing"

"You've yet to see her in battle. Never buy an illusionists facade"

"How did Hibari notice her missing after two days?" Her second day of being away from home would be completed today. "Obviously he did something stupid and she dumped him"

"No" Hayato shook his head. His chin was hiding behind the sleeve of his folded arms. "They were getting along just fine. I even visited them myself. They were perfect" His eyes narrowed. "Perhaps a little inconvenience from the in-laws" Asura-bitch "But otherwise everything was great" He sat up straighter. "Hibari is on his way to Namimori"

"WHAT! Why?"

"To search for Chrome of course" Hayato replied. "I'm also requesting you to help us in this as well. If she comes to you, you must inform me or any of the Guardians" Mukuro and Chrome were afraid of exactly this. Hibari has asked for help and now they're all tied together by the oath of trust. "Hibari really is stubborn. We wouldn't even have known Chrome was gone if not for Tetsuya" So I'm guessing the right hand man tipped off the familiga. Great! Just great! But why didn't Hibari tell them she was gone? Was his pride keeping him? Or because he realized she knew about him being with someone else? Does he even care about Chrome? She talked highly of him and I myself convinced her that he couldn't be cheating on her and now I was the bashing him. I guess at that time my priority was consoling her, now I was thinking practically. "But I hope our expansion can help locate her faster" He's talking as if she's a runaway!

"Did he say anything about why she left?"

"We talked" Hayato bobbed his head. "There was some misunderstanding" Misunderstanding my ass! Someone sent the girl a recording of her husband cheating on her! Hayato knows the whole story, I can tell from his eyes, he's just keeping it under wraps because he knows I would explode and more probably because it is none of my business.

I hate men.

**Close**

**The mafia law about attending to your boss even if your wife is in labour is, in fact, true.**


	6. Lost and Found

**Summary: Life's a bitch and no one knows it best than the Mafioso. The world changes drastically when your best friend gets married to your childhood prince and you are yet to have a boyfriend.**

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #6 Lost and Found**

"How do you feel?"

"… Upset…" and embarrassed. Why wouldn't I? Almost all the Guardians saw me thrashing against medics in a dress that barely covered me. I bet it was a real treat to Shamal because the pervert has been eyeing me every moment he gets. Hayato noticed and now we're both pissed. Our combined glare managed to shoo away the perverted doctor for a while only. The man just knows no shame!

I was with a psychiatrist currently. The old woman asked me a few simple questions and after stating me clear, she allowed me to go home. I had been forced by Hayato to spend the night at the hospital just for safety. I had agreed only after decent clothing was made available to me.

When I walked out of the psyche room Hayato also came out of the waiting room. "Happy now?"

"Very" He replied. "Takeshi just confirmed all the hackers are in captivity. We just had to catch one group and one threat made the beans spill like water" He chuckled. The idiots. Everyone who messes with the Vongola is an idiot. Messing with this family is like signing your own death warrant. I don't know why people still bother with trying to destroying the Vongola familiga. These guys are skilled at what they do and even Tsuna doesn't take it very lightly when his men die, and plenty died at the hands of the hackers. I know for sure Hayato has already proposed to have them shot and Tsuna must have already refused that. The hackers should be grateful it was Takeshi and not Kyoya who found them. Speaking of which…

"How's Hibari-san?"

He looked up at me. "Which one?"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously Kyoya, you don't even know where Chrome is" I have good reasons to believe Chrome and Mukuro didn't go back home last night. With the police rounding off the area and investigators flocking the place, who would?

"I would say he's doing plenty fine" Hayato thumped my back –for whatever reason, I have absolutely no idea. "In fact, he went straight to interrogate the hackers" They're dead. No doubt now. Kyoya probably beat out his frustration on them too, with Chrome leaving him from right under his wings and all. "Someone saw Chrome last night too. But we lost her as soon as we found her" What a relief. "She was at Kokuyo"

"Thought so"

He looked at me sideways as we walked towards the exit. "Got your phone fixed" He slipped it in my fingers and I graciously thanked him. "You'd better call your boss" I was a bit confused but I didn't question him. We got in his car –which was different, yet again- and after securing myself in the seat, I dialed the company. The operator connected me to the head secretary and when I told her my name she explained to me that my leave for the next two weeks had been accepted. My first reaction was mouthing 'what the fuck?' to Hayato as he grinned back at me.

"What was that about? I didn't submit any leave"

"You should have asked her that instead of thanking her"

"What did you do?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"The Tenth believes you need a break from your work" I raised a brow. "Just relax for the next two weeks" I'm really grateful to Tsuna because personally I never had guts enough to ask my boss to let me off for more than three days. I'm guessing he either used his influence or told a pitiful story about me going insane after seeing mutilated bodies in my yard. But what would he gain from getting me time off? I guess he still cared about me … even though I insulted him and his fiancé … If this is a way for him to win my favour, it is working.

"Thanks"

"Thank the Tenth"

I didn't reply. I knew Tsuna and Kyoko were sticking around each other a lot and I was in no hurry to see Kyoko's face anytime soon. I guess I wasn't as mad at Tsuna as I was at Kyoko. Because of her I exploded at Tsuna in the first place. I had two weeks off and I don't have much of a life so I would really have enjoyed helping Kyoko with her wedding preparations, but my anger overwhelmed other feelings. What kind of a fucking best friend doesn't tell you she's been engaged for a whole fucking year?

Hayato slowly pulled up in front of the gate of my house. I looked at the windows and wondered if the illusionists had somehow managed to get in. There were no police cruisers or anyone running around. Everyone had left just as suddenly as they had come.

"Are you okay?" He leaned his head a bit. "Want to go somewhere else?"

I quickly shook my head. "No, you probably have your bad boy work to do" He chuckled. "Don't you have some hackers to torture?"

"Hibari's probably taken care of the funeral arrangements by now" I shook my head. These guys were impossible. "I'm going to Malaysia in a few days" Already? It felt like he'd just come back from overseas and now he was leaving again.

"Doesn't sound like your usual mafia country" I commented.

"No. I'm not going on work" I raised a brow. That's rare, if that's even possible. Even if Hayato was off he would just be swooning over Tsuna or –if Lambo wasn't lying- secretly practicing his piano skills. "Just relaxing, like you"

Except that you would really be enjoying yourself and I'll be seeing the same old, same old. "Lucky" I smiled. My cell started vibrating. I checked the ID.**HolyShit!**Chrome! "See you when you get back, show off" I got out of the car and quickly got to the gate, cutting Chrome's call so that I'd call her back when I got inside. I hope she didn't misunderstand my cutting her call. She's smart; surely she'll know I can't answer my phone now.

"Haru!" I stopped and turned back to the car. Hayato was also standing outside his door. We both just stared for a while and finally I shook my shoulders in the 'what?' manner. He ran a hand through his hair. "This is harder than I thought" he admitted to my confusion. That just made me even more confused. Apart from that I was also worrying about Chrome. He shut the car door and stood beside me at the gate, looming over me. "You're free, I'm free, we should hang out . . . in Malaysia"

My jaw dropped and if not for impossibility, would have hit the floor as well. I felt my eye brows had probably touched my hairline. I had no words. None at all. What was this? Some sort of confession, I presume. I just stared and stared and stared. His lips thinned as he started to loose his cool. "Wh-Hah! Y-You're making fun of me, right? You know I'm saving up money for more important things"

He frowned. "No. Actually I'm offering to take you as my guest"

"Why!" I cried out. What had gotten into him so suddenly? He had never put up an offer like that before. Dino had been the last person to take me on an abroad tour and that time we were teenagers and the entire gang was there. All of us were together just enjoying our summer. Dino had put numerous offers but we declined most of them. If the Italian man had been at my doorstep asking me out to Malaysia I wouldn't have thought it weird at all. He was just like that. But Hayato was a whole different story. I would be concerned about paying him back for the rest of my life! And what would the neighbours think! _Miura'._ They'll ruin dad's already weak heart. "You know I can't!" I shook my head.

"You don't have to pay me back or anything, just think of it as a lottery win" That can't be possible with my luck. I shook my head. "It will be different from Namimori and very refreshing too" I can't Hayato, I can't. I kept shaking my head. "Personally, you won't get any leisure time by yourself, you'll just get lonely. It's a good opportunity to relieve all stress, and you can bring along your friends too"

"I'm very, very, **very** happy that you asked me of all people to go with you but you have to understand that I can't" He exhaled loudly. "Repaying you will never get off my heart and I have social issues too. I don't get along with other people, you know that better than anyone and I don't feel comfortable when I'm away from home. Apart from that I don't even know if my father will permit this" And if my nosy neighbours will let me live it through.

He folded his arms across his chest. "If you're putting it that way then I ask you to come with me as a favour for saving your life. You yourself said you were grateful enough to do anything"

"What! What are you talking about?"

"I don't _ever_forget paybacks" Hayato replied. "It was when I told you not to interrupt Spanner but you nerds refuse to stay away from each other" And the Mosca Version Vongola nearly fried me. Yea, now I remember. He saw it on my face too and started smirking. That was a really crap day. Hayato took the damage for me and was admitted in the burn centre for quite a while but his injuries were minor. If he hadn't jumped in with his CIA System defenses I would have been burned to crisp. Actually, both I and Lambo owned him our lives for that. We both make a pretty stupid pair when you put us together out of the house. Lambo always reduces me to a child.

I tried to think of a good excuse. Work had abandoned me. "It'll depend on my dad" I finally said.

"I'll talk to him"

"No, no! I'll do that" Jeez. What was Hayato's rush? Why me?

"Perfect" He smiled. "I'll send you the documents"

"You've already arranged it?"

"For both of us" He nodded. I started to wonder if my birthday was closing in and if this was all a present but no; my birthday was not close on the calendar. I was so confused. Really, why me? What for? I can't even think of anything. Maybe Tsuna ordered this too, but why me and Hayato? Is this matchmaking? "Don't fret over it too much" He knocked on my forehead. "We're going to have fun" I hope. "Okay, later" He waved his hand over his shoulder as he walked towards his car. I just stood there stupefied. I couldn't muster enough independence to reply to his bye. I just gave him a slight awkward movement of my hand and watched him drive away. As soon as I entered the house my cell started vibrating and I remembered Chrome's earlier call. The caller this time was Lambo.

"Hello Lambo. Are you lost in the subway again?" He should be in school.

"Not this time" He replied in his typical tone so I assumed nothing was wrong. "Can I crash at your place? I'm bored"

"You should be studying in your classes" Absentmindedly I continued "But fine. Though I won't allow this next time" That's what I always said.

"Ah! Sweet!"

And then I realized: What about Chrome? She had called me! What if she needed to stay too? And Lambo was probably in on Chrome's search too. I guess I should arrange a friend's place for her. When Lambo was off the line I instantly dialed Chrome. She picked up readily too.

"Haru-san, I'm at the Yamamoto sushi-restaurant. Can you please come here?"

"What are you doing there! The Guardians are looking for you! Hayato told me last night to keep an eye out for you! Why would you be at the Yamamoto family restaurant when Takeshi-san is one of the Guardians?"

"It was the only place I could think of" She replied weakly. "Takeshi-san rarely comes to work here so I figured it might be safe for now. Can't you please come here quickly? I'm scared"

"Where's Mukuro?"

"He said he went to kill Kyo-kun"

"WHAT!" I bellowed. "WHY! IS HE INSANE!" My bad, that isn't a question, that's a fact.

"Kyo-kun came to Kokuyo Manor and Ken and Chikusa lied to him. Then they started fighting when Kyo-kun threatened them with Vendicare. They were fighting uselessly! I wasn't even there!" They lied to protect Chrome. I could hear her sniffing on the other end. "M.M said such horrible things to me and I'm so ashamed of myself"

"Don't you listen to that bitch! She never has anything useful to say!" I was fuming.

"I'm worried about Kyo-kun and Mukuro-sama. I don't know what to do! I'm so confused. I'm so sorry I'm dragging you into the mess I made. I really am sorry"

"Don't apologize. I'm coming to you, okay?"

"Okay…" Her voice was disappearing. "My ankle is broken too" Before I could scream out what happened, she answered herself. "It got twisted when I fell. I've covered the swelling with my illusion and the pain is concealed to some extent as well, but I'm slipping from my powers. I'm so scared Haru-san"

"Just calm down, Chrome. I'll be right there, wait for me okay? I'm coming"

I quickly phoned Lambo and told him I was leaving the door open for him and was going out for a while. I finished with him by saying "If I find a party on my return, you're a dead _**dead**_man!" He promised me he wouldn't do anything reckless and I rushed to the hub of Namimori's food zone.

When I entered the family restaurant, the older Yamamoto greeted me with a warm smile. I responded to his greetings and went to the back where the area for customers requiring _privacy_was. Chrome was bound to be there. Sure enough, I found her behind the third curtain. When I hugged her she broke down completely. I could imagine people begin to peep out of their stalls to see what was going on.

"I don't know what to do! I just don't know!" She cried, partially screaming "I'm scared. I'm confused! I'm hurting! What do I do now, Haru-san? What should I do?" First, I had her quieten down. When I started consoling her –_sssssshr!_ The curtain was pulled apart and Yamamoto Takeshi stood there looking down at us with wide eyes. I don't think he saw me at all. All he was doing was staring straight at Chrome.

"Chrome …" He muttered. "… Why are you bleeding?"

Both of us had surprise attack us. I found no blood anywhere but Chrome seemed to have something else running through her mind. She suddenly cried out in pain and tightly clung onto me. I looked down at her ankle and couldn't suppress my shock either. Her ankle was at an unnatural angle and sure enough, was bleeding. It was swollen, broken and bleeding! What had she done to herself?

"Please don't call him" She pleaded as she buried her face in my shoulder. "Don't tell Kyo-kun where I am" She said and I looked towards Takeshi appealing with my eyes. Her tears were flowing down continuously and I noticed Takeshi's hands had started trembling.

"We have to patch you up" He simply said and let the curtain fall back. Chrome called out his name but he was gone. I tried to keep her from getting up. Boy she was desperate to avoid Kyoya! Takeshi was back in a while and I wondered if he had contacted anyone. "Please don't move Chrome"

"Don't tell anyone" She shied away from his helping hands, refusing to be touched.

"I haven't" He replied. I could see the girl became visibly relaxed. I also let out a sigh of relief. We both thanked him. She started listening to his ministrations as he gently cleaned the gash on her foot whilst mumbling soothing words as if tending to a child. I should say Takeshi would make better doctor than Shamal. "We have to show this to Ry-a doctor" I noticed his slip. He was going to propose Ryohei because the man had power to regenerate cells and accelerate healing. Chrome wouldn't go to Ryohei in a time like this. She shook her head and he meekly obliged, simply moving on to bandage the foot after putting it back in its natural position and emitting a lot of muffled screams from Chrome.

"You should lie down" I advised.

Yamamoto nodded. "You'll be more comfortable upstairs" We both looked at him questioningly. "We have our room upstairs" Ah! I'd forgotten he lived above his father's restaurant. He slowly slid his arms under her back and knees and gently lifted her up. The tablets he'd given her seemed to be working already because I could see her dozing off. He carried her out of the private area and I followed his heels. We moved upstairs through a tight stairway but the second storey was wide and spaced. He took her in a formal looking room –which I presumed as a guest room- and lay her down on the bed. The room was furnished in a Western manner, a style popular in urban Japan. He looked at me and then back at the young sleeping woman.

"Please don't tell the others" I asked. "Just giver her some time, she'll go back herself" Takeshi nodded. His eyes were half-lidded and he seemed to be tired just dealing with us. "If you knew why she left, you'd understand"

"I know"

"Hm?" Know as in 'know why she left', or know as in 'if I knew I'd understand'. I think I could trust Takeshi. He had been crushing on Chrome for a very long time and he surely wouldn't want to betray her trust. He was such a sweet guy. But I hope he didn't expect to gain anything out of this, Chrome was a married woman. "We should leave her to rest" He nodded and we both left.

"A doctor needs to see her ankle" He said after we were both seated in the small lounge. I couldn't help but agree. He wasn't trying to expose her; his intentions were pure. Chrome slept through lunch time. I wondered just how long the medicine was going to last but she was probably exhausted from the pain and the stress of the day too. I spent the day keeping Takeshi in sight and he didn't mind me stalking him around the restaurant either. Though I noticed he never took off his katana.

I also checked up on Lambo, the house was definitely intact and the boy wanted to spend the night over. I gave him permission and told him to lock the door. Hayato also called earlier telling me that he won't be leaving my travel documents with the '_stupidcow'_because the child was bound to burn down the house. I couldn't feel happy or excited for myself at all. I only felt a sense of looming danger.

I went downstairs for dinner and happened to bump into a colleague. We both had dinner together. The day seemed to be ending smoothly. I waved her goodbye as she walked out the door and I kept sitting on the counter stool. As she left, I noticed a suited man standing in the doorway, but his face remained concealed from the hanging posters.

I wasn't the only one who noticed him. Takeshi's father also stopped to look at the unusual stranger. As the darkly dressed man lifted the banner to enter the restaurant, my heart just stopped dead. I nearly tripped to the floor as I got off the stool. The well suited man calmly strode through the customers towards me, but I didn't let him catch up. In my panic, I rushed up the stairs and found him following me. I quickly entered the living space and threw open the door to the guest room.

My intention was to lock the door and hide Chrome but my surprise just left me hanging on the doorknob with shaking knees, a pounding heart and staring at the man leaning over Chrome's face. Her angelic features were still at peace and the woman was unaware of everything. Her eyes were just fluttering open. Takeshi was sitting on the bedside, his hands on either sides of her shoulders and his lips were just leaving Chrome's. The innocent words that left her mouth didn't reach me, but I easily made them out, 'Kyo-kun?' I had heard her lips move with his name so many ties that it wasn't difficult for me to guess when she as saying his name even from a mile away.

Behind me, I could literally feel bloody murder emitting from the man. Takeshi didn't seem bothered by both of us standing at the doorway.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later Hibari-san"

Shit!

Shit!

Shit …

**Close**


	7. Wrath of Vongolans

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry 7 # Wrath of Vongolans**

Prologue

My intention was to lock the door and hide Chrome but my surprise just left me hanging on the doorknob with shaking knees, a pounding heart and staring at the man leaning over Chrome's face. Her angelic features were still at peace and the woman was unaware of everything. Her eyes were just fluttering open. Takeshi was sitting on the bedside, his hands on either sides of her shoulders and his lips were just leaving Chrome's. The innocent words that left her mouth didn't reach me, but I easily made them out, 'Kyo-kun?' I had heard her lips move with his name so many ties that it wasn't difficult for me to guess when she was saying his name even from a mile away.

Behind me, I could literally feel bloody murder emitting from the man. Takeshi didn't seem bothered by both of us standing at the doorway.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later Hibari-san"

Shit . . .

Continued

I lost all faith in Takeshi after that. I couldn't believe him. I couldn't believe my eyes. Everything was spiraling out of control so rapidly I couldn't find how to cope with it.

Chrome furrowed her brows and was trying make sense of Takeshi looming over her. Her eyes cast away from his intensely staring ones towards my face and suddenly darted to the person behind me. The change in her expression was instant; surprise, fear and a mixture of other confusing emotions. For a second I thought I saw her hopeful or relieved but it died as soon as it had appeared. She was definitely surprised and obviously scared. I could tell from her face that she wasn't ready for this.

What was Takeshi thinking? Didn't he consider the consequences of his disgusting actions? Didn't he once stop to think that Chrome was already bound in marriage to someone else? Did he even wonder whether she wanted this? What her reaction would be to it? Her feelings? Takeshi has always kept a level head, why snap now? I understand that he had been harbouring feelings for her but he lost his chance. It was about time for him to move on. Bianchi moved on from Romeo, I moved on from Tsuna, Lussuria –no matter how repulsive an example- moved on from corpses.

Worst of all, he had misplaced the trust that two fellow Guardians had placed in him.

Love sucks.

But something sucked even more right now, and that was Hibari being audience to Takeshi's actions. I don't think a sane husband takes it lightly when an acquaintance kisses his wife in her sleep. This was probably _exactly_what Hibari didn't want to see. This was something no one wanted to see right now. Just consider, he was out looking for her for whole days and when he does find her, she's being taken advantage of. I could feel his dark aura rapidly building up behind me. I didn't even want to turn around and look at his expression. The only thing I could do at the moment was cuss at myself, at Takeshi and life in general.

Hibari was never really polite and when enraged he was something never to cross paths with. Everyone respected him out of fear. I guess I should have seen it coming –the brutal handling- but praying that maybe, just maybe, he would ignore my presence because people in his way, and very literally in his way, were not treated nicely. It was abrupt and it was very painful. I had gotten into tons of verbal fights with the Guardians and knew from just the look that they had rough hands. Hibari was the strongest in the group so it should come as no surprise that he could crack ribs left and right with just a single touch.

His large hand thumped on my shoulder and as if I wasn't worth the space, he threw me aside. It felt as if my shoulder had been torn from its binding muscles. I felt searing hot pain seeping into the area and was afraid of touching it for fear of finding out that my shoulder really had been misplaced.

He moved from beside me and the way his shoes made light sounds on the floor board was something out of a horror-suspense movie. I could only breathe after he had crossed me.

Takeshi didn't look the least bit concerned. When he finally did look away from Chrome his expression looked rather amused. I didn't understand whether to hit my head against a wall or his. It was almost as if he was possessed by Mukuro, and for a moment I really thought he was. The male stood up and crossed the bed to stand between Chrome and Hibari.

"I am requesting you to kindly leave this place" The swordsman said. Hibari's only response was a few quick motions and tonfas blazing with his flames were in his grip the next instant. I got up taking support from the wall and creeping along it I went to Chrome. Neither of the men paid any attention to me; I was probably a mouse in their eyes. "You can either leave quietly," Takeshi unsheathed his katana "or I will _makeyou_" Water blue flames burst out blazing on his sword.

"NO!" Chrome would have jumped off the bed if I hadn't restrained her and ducked. Hibari's tonfa came spiraling at an amazing speed and would probably have had beheaded me if I hadn't moved. It circled the space behind me and went for Takeshi who effortlessly deflected it with his sword and the weapon retreated back to its master.

"Degenerate" That was the only word that left Hibari's lips before he made a full charge towards Takeshi. The other man didn't look like he was going to hold back either. Before a clash of titans could take place, familiar gothic shields appeared between them and they both crashed into it, jumping back instantly when they realized they had hit something other than each other. The simple charge had been so powerful that it sent waves throughout the room. The sheet flew off the bed and fluttered against the wall as other articles of décor shook in the room. Even my hair was blown backwards and Chrome buried her face in my chest.

"The hell is wrong with you two!" I was surprised. I didn't notice when he got in and how he got between them so fast. I hadn't heard him raise his voice in years. "Can't you live a day without killing something!" He barked at Hibari and then turned towards Takeshi. "And what the fuck with the sword? Get rid of the fucking things!" Hayato's eyes darted between the two Guardians as he tried to foresee any sign of hostility. The two men seemed rooted for a while but Takeshi was the first to place back his katana. Hayato looked like he wanted to say something more but kept quiet. Hibari released his tonfas and gave his hands a quake, the weapons dissipated into thin air following the gesture.

For a while the three stood just like that as Hayato's box system floated around the room, their flames blazing excitedly sometimes when detecting energy intensities but soon the thick air in the room became enough diluted to breathe in. I don't know whether I was relieved to see Hayato there or more horrified.

When things looked to have calmed down to some extent, The Decimo's right hand man turned his undivided attention onto me. I felt a shiver run up my spine. I don't know why I thought taking on Tsuna's Guardians would be a piece of cake for Chrome's sake. The practical experience was terrifying. Now that I'd seen what happened when their tempers were blown, I don't think I wanted to do anything with them anymore. I was lurking on dangerous waters. Despite my terror-stricken self, I managed to pull up a brave face and glared right back at Hayato. This was like a routine scuffle, but it was going to be more intense. The room was beginning to chill up again.

"What are you doing here?" I beat him to the questioning.

"You took the words right out of my mouth" He replied. On second thought, this was going to be nothing like a routine quarrel. I was standing on thin ice and we were both as serious as we could get. I could tell just from his eyes the questions that were running through his head. What are you doing here? How did you get involved? Is this why you left Lambo at your house? How much do you know? Are you stupid? After a few seconds of silence he suddenly sighed. "Come on Haru, let's leave"

"No!" I replied sternly. "I'm not leaving Chrome with you bastards. You've done enough!" The way he looked at me was a mixture of shock and disappointment.

"This is a family related issue. Stay out of it"

"Hell yea, like it is!"

"This is none of your business. Don't involve yourself in family matters, Haru" His voice was turning graver.

"This is my business too! And it's not just _familybusiness._Chrome came to me and now I'm involved neck deep, sorry to inform you" Never before had we exchanged words so icily. We had yelled our heads off, we had shared light punches, we made faces and we even exchanged insults but never before had our tones dropped below zero degrees. We were both shit serious and ready to bite and sting.

"Haya-"

"Shut up" The silveret cut off Takeshi. Oh damn, he was so pissed, so, so pissed. Even though my blood was pulsing more rapidly than normal I could still feel how cold my nails and fingers had turned. Our glaring contest seemed to drag time. "Chrome" He abruptly turned from me to her. The younger woman had been staring off somewhere else –in Hibari's direction, I think- when her head jerked to meet green eyes as he called her name.

Her voice quivered a bit as she answered. "Yes" It wasn't even a question, it was like an attendance. It seemed as if she had answered him out of habit, agreeing with him or accepting whatever.

"If you're always willing to give Mukuro second chances, isn't it only fair you give Hibari one too?"

"Don't you dare drag Mukuro into this!" I cut in.

"You stay out of it" He held up a finger as if he was chiding a child. I was now blowing steam out of my ears but wisely decided to stay shut. "Misunderstandings develop. Hibari is your husband, you have to understand him, talk it out with him" Oh? When did he become a counselor? "Do this little; try discussing the issue, if you still have a problem we'll manage it but please try resolving it. I'm sure it'll work out if you give it a chance. It's for the best of the family" _It'sforthebestofthefamily?_And what was best for the well being of a person? "Do you want to give it a 'go'?"

I wanted to interrupt it. I wanted to give it a 'no go'. I wanted to tell Chrome to turn her face away and say 'no'. But this wasn't my place to butt in. This was Chrome's decision, her choice. My interruption would only mean I'm trying to distort the order of things and might just end up being flagged as a possible threat to the security of Vongola. All eyes were set on her.

_Say no._

She smiled at me. "Thank you for everything, Haru-san" I closed my eyes. This wasn't happening. "Thank you for allowing me the stay, Yamamoto-san" Oh God. Why Chrome? Why are you so forgiving? Is this a part of Kyoko that rubbed off really hard on you? "Thank you for your advice Gokudera-san, I will heed it" She didn't look at Hibari, she just turned her head down and started playing with her fingers on her lap.

"All yours" Hayato said and back-tracked to lean against the door frame, waiting for me I suppose. It made my chest burn. _Allyours._As if an interrogator was handing over his tortured captive to his partner. Takeshi left the room without a second glance. Hibari stepped forward and bore his eyes into my head, a caution for me to leave instantly.

"Hey" I hushed and Chrome shyly looked up. "I'll be waiting downstairs" I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Take your time and keep your head level, okay?" She slowly nodded. "Don't let your emotions get the best of you" A small smile etched on her face and it wiped off just as I stood up. I gave her a small wave of my hand as I left her out of my sight for good. The door was closed behind me and the last thing I saw was Hibari sitting down on the other side of the bed, Chrome still not leveling her gaze with his.

Downstairs we were met with Mr. Yamamoto's curious eyes.

"Where are the customers?" I asked.

"I had them leave the second the ceiling shook. Who knows how much thrashing this old place can stand from you young lot" He laughed in good humour but I could see the seriousness in his comment. "Everything okay up there? Where's the little lady with the eye-patch?"

I smiled back at him but Hayato answered for me. "She'll be down in a while" Never let a thing escape, do you? I glared sideways at him and sat on a stool at the service counter.

"Any orders?" A worker asked as he looked over to our side.

"Here" Hayato held up a finger. "Anything for you?" He asked me.

"I would like some silence" I hissed at the male who had taken the liberty of sitting beside me. He raised a brow. The man came over and took Hayato's order who also asked for a cold drink for me. I didn't touch it; I didn't even look at it. All I knew is that Chrome was stuck up there with Hibari, someone she would rather not see right now, and it was all Hayato's fault; the scumbag of a problem solver, control freak, bastard! Men just never try to understand women!

He ate his dinner, glancing at me now and then but I ignored him completely. I wanted to hurl him in an inferno, burn him to crisp, feed him to sharks, but if I ever got physical with him it'd be me who'd be suffering through the same way instead of him. Life is such a bitch! Out of all the people in the world why did it have to be me who ended up with a frigging co of psychos?

"What's eating you up?" He finally decided to break the silence, the beautiful silence that allows me to think.

"Your fuc-" I shut up instead of answering him. My emotions were loose and I didn't want to get into an argument where I'd be lead with emotions right now. It was too embarrassing. It always made me mad to the brink of crying. I have this strange feature of starting waterworks every time I get enraged.

"I'm not smoking right now" Said captain-obvious.

"Don't talk to me" I buried my head between my folded arms on the counter top. Why would he talk about smoking? He never smoked in front of me. I hated those cancer sticks. So why state the obvious? I felt his hand on top of my head and shook it off, dragging my stool away from him. I could already make a guess onto what he was thinking; _you'rebeingsuchachild._ Yes, well it was your goddamn fault I was _being_such a child.

I was suddenly hit by a bizarre question; was I this upset over Chrome and Hibari getting back together?

Of course I wasn't upset over that. But really, was I? I was convinced what I was doing was the best for Chrome, but was it? What if Chrome had made a mistake and I was there keeping her on the wrong track? What if what the Guardians were doing was the right thing? It might seem like going to hell but maybe it really was constructive in the long run, helpful in that perspective.

I was bringing my own feelings in her problems. I didn't like relationships and commitments and I was keeping Chrome from getting hers back too. Simply because I wanted someone to be like me? Rejected, lonely and suffering?

No, I wasn't doing that. I was helping her. Mukuro had told me exactly how to handle it. They were simple orders to follow. Now, really… Mukuro? Well . . . He tricked me …

What kind of a friend am I? Making justifications for my actions. I really need to get my head straight. What I need to do now is to make sure this chaos ends with something positive on Chrome's side. I made a promise to help her and I intend to keep that promise. But I can't really do that if she's unwilling to protect herself first. If she just goes on forgiving people and forgetting herself then there's really nothing anyone can do. I guess for now I just have to wait and see what comes out of this discussion they're having. I can only pray it favours the best.

After a long time, around an hour maybe, we finally heard footsteps on the stairs. Hibari appeared out of the narrow way carrying a dazed Chrome in his arms. Both of us seated on the stools stood up. The eyes of the two Guardians met briefly before Hibari proceeded towards the exit. Takeshi didn't even acknowledge their presence. He lay on one of the benches pretending to be asleep. I knew because I had seen him peek at the two when they emerged and closing his eyes afterwards. I felt for him despite my earlier anger.

"Chrome?" I called. Hibari turned around so she could look at me. Her eyes flickered with life as she looked back at me. I smiled at her but she didn't return it. Her lips were compressed tightly and she looked ready to break any minute. My face fell. Hibari went about his way again and left.

"Well, everything is settled" I think you can guess who said that. Takeshi left the room. My shoulder began to sting again. All this time I had been so anxious about the mess of things I had completely forgotten about myself. Nonetheless, I didn't want to stick around Hayato anymore. I grabbed my bag and left the family restaurant. I could hear him behind me, following me.

How could he say 'everything is settled' with such a straight face? Nothing looked settled. Chrome looked like she was going back to miseryville again. Did he see her face? Hibari didn't look much pleased either, but he's always unhappy. Were things ever going to go back like they used to be between them? They were getting well acquainted and then BANG the in-laws came and destroyed it.

"Are you going to walk the entire way back?" He asked.

"And if I am?"

"I would offer to drive you"

I stopped and turned around to face him. He was looking at me in a weird way, the same way he looked at me whenever he won some pointless thing between us and wanted to tell me how stupid I was. I could feel how tight my knuckles were getting; my nails were digging into my palm. "I'm not stupid!"

"I didn't say you were" He grinned. If only I could somehow wipe that fucking grin off your face. I pulled back my fist to punch him and regretted it. I had picked the wrong hand and now my shoulder felt like it was tearing up with pain, the poor injured shoulder. "What's the matter?" He dipped his head to try looking at me.

"Get out of my face!" I roughly pushed at his chest with my other hand. He didn't even budge. He just stood there like a gust of wind had hit a wall, no biggie. It made me even madder. I could feel my fingers shaking. As if my shoulder wasn't hurting enough, my ego had also taken a blow. Before I knew it, I was crying. "Don't touch me!" I slapped away his arms and took a few steps back but he only advanced on me. I shoved away his hand again and took support by a wall as I started cussing at him with every word I had picked up through the years. A few passer-bys even stopped to see what was going on.

"Are you done?"

"No!" I yelled. After a loud sob I said. "I missed stupidera" He raised his eyebrows at that.

"Come on, I'll drive you home. It's late and the last train's probably gone by now" How could he say that after all of- Oh God help me understand this man! I hate him!

"I hate your guts!" I said as I dabbed at my tear filled eyes. He didn't say anything, just closed the door after me as I got in the passenger seat. The drive was silent. The city was asleep; very few people occupied the roads that we were taking. We were going towards the suburbs so the way was rather silent.

"Haru"

"What?" I replied stonily.

"Answer me honestly, what were you doing with Chrome today?"

I wondered about that. He had told me quite clearly that I was to inform the Guardians of her whereabouts and I think I broke his trust. If I come clean maybe he'll let me off the hook easy. "I'm not in the mood" I replied.

"I'm not going to forget it easily" I know.

"Another time" I said. "I'm really tired" He muttered some sort of agreement to that.

"How's your shoulder?" Great . . . He noticed. Let's prepare for a detour to the hospital!

"It's fine. I just want to go to bed"

"A hospital bed?" I stared at him. "It's not hard to see how much it's bothering you" I grumbled and looked outside only to realize that he was never taking me home to begin with. We were already on the way to the hospital. I just didn't notice because he had been taking other routes.

"Fantastic" I grumbled.

After the patch up at the hospital, which thankfully didn't take very long, I was finally dropped home. I didn't bother saying good bye, good night or anything of the sort. I was agitated and I think he should suffer too. I just slammed the door and barged into the gates of my house, never looking back. He didn't leave until I was indoors. It's like he expected me to have lost the keys to the house!

I flicked on the light of the lounge and –no surprise there- found Lambo asleep on the couch. Surprisingly though, the TV was off. Maybe he turned it off during sleep walking or something. And when did he turn off the lights if he was asleep?

Headache coming.

I rubbed my forehead and decided to stop thinking about things I'll never have answers to anyway. Anything related to the Vongola family was psychotic and never abided the laws of science, or sense for that matter.

"Lambo" I shook his shoulder. "Lambo get up" He would be having a sore back in the morning and I'll be the one dealing with his whining. "Go to your bed" Well, not exactly his bed, the guest room bed to be more precise but he knew what I meant. "Lambo! Lambowaaah!" I was pulled back by arms that had coiled around my waist. A hand was slapped onto my mouth and an ever feared rhythmic laughter echoed in my ears as the lights turned off.

"Hello again, Miura Haru"

**Close**

**Time to be honest: I'm really tired of this fanfic. I think it was fine when it was originally present but re-uploading it and all is kind of grating on my nerves. Honestly I want to delete this fic myself now. **

**I've lost heart and interest in keeping this continued.**


	8. Owls and Cows

**The Diary of Miura**

**Entry #8 Owls and Cows**

Understanding Mukuro was like understanding a fish. If that even made any sense … See? That's what trying to understand Mukuro was like. It didn't make any sense!

I was pretty certain he'd taken me as a substitute for M.M while he was away from her. It was so annoying. That crazy woman was ready to cut off her right hand for him. I wouldn't give him my spit even if he was dying of thirst.

I winced as his grip on my wrist tightened. _Ah man._ He'd read my mind. And my mind was not a fond place for people whom I disliked.

So what had really happened? Well, it was nothing short of a nightmare. And Mukuro was making it a point to agitate my injured shoulder. He had held my hand so high above my head that my shoulder muscles were straining and it was hurting. I even stood on my toes to try to get some height and soothe the pain but the fervent tall man just hovered my hand higher in the air and I was soon wincing at every movement.

Mukuro had come over to get a scoop on what exactly had happened. Before I could even narrate it to him he said he found out. Turns out he swept through my memories whilst I was still silenced by his hand over my mouth. I guess he himself didn't show up then because there were three enraged Guardians and his face was as welcome in Vongola as a fly on your dessert. Everyone thought he was using Chrome to break apart the family. Well, now she was out of his _clutches_.

"You're a good little girl, Haru" He had said as he dragged me further back when he had first laid hand on me the night. "A good intelligent girl" When my feet had stopped grating against the floor I realized he was leaning against the wall and slowly lifting me up against his chest. I was suddenly panic-stricken. My mouth was silenced and my attempts to remove his single arm from around my waist were pathetically futile. What was the point of self defense classes! I started kicking against his shins but he seemed to be hardly effected. "You're obedient and determined, headstrong and resolved" He was doing everything slowly and I had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

And then I ended up in my current position where he had let go of my mouth but my tongue was tied and I was literally hanging by the wrist from which he had held me, pretty close to bashing me against the wall. It reminded me awfully of the last time he had possessed me. Lambo had shown me a security footage of it and I could feel the spare hair on the back of my neck rising up as I recalled the words he had exchanged with Tsuna through my body; _"You can either consider my terms or I will make a show of bashing this brain so that it leaks from those ears"_and yes, he had been talking about mincing my brain within my own skull. I shuddered.

Mukuro kept chanting things, more like praises or attributes of my character. I didn't know what he was doing and by the time I figured it out – too late. He hooked his hand at the back of my collar and pulled it back so some skin of my back was revealed to him and I was choking on the front. I kicked backwards at him to show a sign of protest and that's when the pain began. I could feel a sharp, pointed metallic object piercing my skin and slowly being pushed inside. The pain was outrageous. I squirmed and struggled but he kept my head still enough for the metal to penetrate further, deeper and deeper. It hurt. It hurt so bad that tears came as no surprise to me when they fell out. I couldn't voice myself. I tried. I really did. But breaking out of trances was so damn hard.

The insertion point was somewhere below my neck, a little to the side and –if I must be exact- right behind my injured collar bone. What he wanted to achieve through its insertion was beyond me because he pulled it back out and that pain was more like a slipping stinging, a sharp kind of pain. The object had to be damn long and thick because I felt it as it poked some of my insides on its way out.

The second it exited my skin I let out a sharp gasp and it escaped my lips. I was so relieved to hear my voice again. Moving my arm now seemed to be tricky business more than anything.

"What've you done?" I gasped as I tried to find a comfortable position for my arm. It hurt at every godforsaken angle! Mukuro just slapped my arm against my side, the pain that shot through the joint was harsh but the absence of pain at this position from my shoulder was satisfying. I slowly turned around to face him, slowly because I didn't want to put my abused upper body in any unintended pain. That suddenly became the least of my worries as I felt blood trickling down my back. I shuddered as I felt my shirt beginning to stick to me because of it. "What've you done!" This time my voice was chocked and laced with panic and tears. To make things worse I couldn't see him. The darkness was death black. "Oh God"

"Hush" His voice came from right in front of me. His breath made my tear ticklish on my cheek. I didn't know if his entire body was so close to me or whether it was just his head leaning over mine but just the thought of his closeness made me uncomfortable. I pressed myself against the wall for some distance to appear and scooted to the right. My wound was feeling more disgusting by the second and I was wondering whether I'd be staining the wall behind me too. "I can still see where you are" His voice scared me. It felt threatening. "Until your thoughts die, I can tell where you're hiding. Even in this darkness you're just as visible to me as on a sunny day in an open field"

That was not something I wanted to hear. Definitely not right now. Darkness is comforting when you're hiding. It gives you a sort of cover, some relief that maybe the predator chasing you wouldn't be able to see you because you weren't able to see through the endless blackness either.

"Don't cry" I felt him coming closer. I wondered if this was how Chrome had felt when Hibari had appeared. I was terrified. Mukuro was so unpredictable. For all I know he could be wanting to soak his fingers in my open wound for the sick pleasure of it. "That's blasphemous" He said, but I could detect a tinge of amusement in his tone. Why was he always intruding my head, my home, my space, my privacy? It's like he was holding some sort of grudge against me and making me pay painfully slow. Maybe this was about Chrome too? Everything was somehow related to her when Mukuro became involved.

I was swept off floor as Mukuro scooped me up. My shoulder gave a sure sign of protest by the way it was hurting. The pain was killing me. Worse, I had a feeling blood was dripping to the floor now. I felt every step bouncing on me as Mukuro carried me upstairs. My memory became a puzzle from there on. I only remember being carried up and the jerk making fun of 'how a mess you are!' I definitely recall being put to bed and the lights that were suddenly turned on really blinded me.

The end.

That's as far as my memory was intact.

Even my dream was a void of nothingness.

I woke up with vivid images of everything that had happened yesterday. Most of which was not good. The day ended with Mukuro and I instantly jumped up in bed, looking around quickly, making sure he wasn't entertaining himself with me. I was in the master bedroom, my father's room. The door was ajar.

I pulled the sheets off myself and decided to check on Lambo first. Then I saw the blooded gauze and cotton laying around. My hand was unconsciously on my shoulder and I felt the rough gauze wrapped around it. That had me confused.

"Mukuro!" I rushed out of the room and looked down the stairs. Lambo wasn't on the sofa as he had been last night. "Lambo!" The two, where were they? "Lambo?" Knowing the little I did about my illusionist _friends_, they always stuck around till breakfast. And the one –probably still- here wasn't very fond of Lambo.

I hurried down and stairs and started looking room to room. Finally I entered the kitchen. Mukuro was there busy with his phone, but Lambo wasn't present. "What did you do to him? Where's Lambo?" I balled my hands and glared at him. He vehemently ignored me.

"M.M is coming over to pick me up. Isn't it a joy?" He spoke really sweetly but I was bitter, from last night and present. It sounded to me as if he was faking his politeness. Nonetheless, it was a relief to hear someone was coming to take away the lunatic, even if it was one of my least favourite people on the planet. Now that I thought about it, there weren't many people that I liked to begin with. I wondered if my personality had deteriorated through the years, if lesser people liked me compared to back in the careless days. Argh, who cares about pointless things like these? "Do you know why I'm lured towards you Miura?" My head snapped back towards him.

Because he thought I resembled M.M, that was the answer right? I held up a hand and rolled my eyes. "Just tell me where Lambo is"

"Ding. Incorrect" He laughed. "Guess again"

Bastard. If it could be helped, I'd have thrown him out into the yard straight through the window. "Please" I sighed. "Where is Lambo?"

"What's the matter Haru-ne-san?"

I whirled around on my heel and found the teenager staring right back at me. "Lambo?" Was he an illusion?

"No. He's the real pain" Mukuro replied. So then, why wasn't he freaking out because of Mukuro's presence? The real Lambo would be having fits by now. "Really?" The man laughed. I looked over my shoulder at him and then observed Lambo again. He looked really confused for some reason.

"What happened to you? You look like shit" Ah, always the blunt one. It was then I realized he must be talking about my bandaged shoulder. Brakes! Couldn't he see Mukuro? I raised my eyebrows.

"Didn't you hear about it from Hayato?"

The boy grumbled something incoherent. "Tried" Was his only reply. "Any who, whatchu do yesterday?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Seriously, what did you do? Stupidera was so pissed, the real time pissed. It's like his self explode bomb finally went off"

"When did you talk to him?" I narrowed my eyes.

Lambo didn't seem defensive at all. He rather looked like he wanted to speak truth for once. "Early morning" He replied.

"And how do you know _I_am responsible for his idiocy?"

"Oh it was really obvious" This time he shrugged his shoulders. "When ever he's pissed at you he just goes on and on about how stupi- abouthowyoupisshimoff" He quickly corrected himself but I caught it nonetheless. Even his lazy eye was fully wide and open now and he backtracked a bit. Mukuro laughed mirthfully.

"He said that … to _you_?"

Can Hayato NOT embarrass me for like, I don't know, ONCE in my life. Here I am, boarding a leech in my house and Hayato even goes on to poison him against me! Well, not really poison, but still though. Does it kill him to refer to me as a knowledgeable intelligent person? Which I most certainly am. Okay, so maybe I'm not the prettiest face in the world but in the least I'm not a total dorko, or really ugly, or someone with no life! . . . uh . . . I have no life … Mukuro laughed again.

"Oh, how you amuse me" He complimented, I guess. It just went on to enrage me further.

Next I had made a grab for Lambo's collar and pulled him up to myself. It didn't work so effectively as it used to because Lambo was now just as tall as me, which is so unfair, and just as heavy too. I jutted my finger pointedly on his chest and he winced. At least something was affecting him.

"You tell that _oni-san_ of yours to meet up with me sometime. I'm free for the next two weeks thanks to _boss_" I released him and sharply pointed out the door. "Get to school!"

"Yes ma'am" He scrambled out and I didn't see him but I heard him leave in a rush.

Mukuro hummed and his voice felt so close a shiver ran up my spine. He really was close. I put some distance between us and looked at the wall clock. It was past time for any school to still be open now, but thankfully Lambo didn't retort with that. He was a good kid, no matter how disobedient, he knew when to leave. Thank God he did.

"Do you know what he was thinking?" Mukuro beamed at me.

"I don't want to know other people's private thoughts" Yes, I wanted to make a point.

"He thought you walked out of the Storm's bed" The illusionist burst into a barrage of laughter and I just stared back at him. I what? Storm what? Who's bed? "Oh how dense you can be" He chuckled. The male pulled out his trident and suddenly flung it towards me. A gasp left me instantly as the trident impaled itself, two of its pins on either side of my neck. I gently shook it but it didn't budge. "He thought you denied his _oni-san's_intimate advances at the peak of the poor man's excitement" Mukuro's smile became lopsided. "If you still didn't get that, you refused Gokudera sex"

I gaped at him. That's what Lambo thought happened last night? That perverted little prick! He's not supposed to be thinking about things like these till he becomes twenty-one! Stupid brat cow. If he stays near those stupid Mafioso he's bound to get more spoiled! Already he's skipping classes and toying with orders. Then his line of unlimited girlfriends! If Nana isn't going to control that brat, I seriously am going to step in and take official custody for him. Already his ego is over inflated because of his high status in the underworld. Tch. Kids are so outrageous these days. I still remember my days, I was so innocent, even at twenty!

Hmm, Fuuta is nice too. He's so adorable. Lambo should take him as a role model. What about I-pin? She's always hanging around Lambo. She's practically his shadow! Why isn't he getting her good habits?

Mukuro pulled back the trident with ease.

I turned around and inspected the damaged wall. It's going to need a good excuse and some cement to cover up. Wait, why would I need an excuse? It's not like I'll be calling over Hayato to fix it up.

A ripple moved through the wall and the damage was suddenly gone. Mukuro's hands came on either side of me face and I felt his body close in on my back. "There is no damage" He said. "It was in your head" Is it a lie, or is it the truth? I can never tell with this guy. Well, there's a reason he's still not captured and almost undefeated. "I still didn't get my answer"

"huh?"

"What lures me towards you?"

I raised my hands to push his away. He allowed me to budge them a little but hardened them so not to let them stray too far away from me. "How should I know?"

He snickered. "But you should" I could fell his smile broadening. "Because it is the intense mind, your strange thinking, the depth of your thoughts that is so fascinating" That was the reason? "Why are you still a virgin? _I hate men._But really, how true is that?" His lips were right behind my ear. I could feel his cold breath as it escaped his throat and brushed against my skin. It made me want to recoil. I could feel my blood running cold. "You don't hate. No, no, no. You're afraid. The fear has warped itself into hate. Such a modified fear, that you project it as hate. From my perspective, you would see how fascinating it is"

What a load of bullshit. "What are you saying? I don't get it at all"

"Don't you long for it?" He planted a soft kiss on my ear. I was suddenly aware of how uncomfortably close he was. How uncomfortable I was at the disadvantage. His kiss was cold. His lips were cold. His skin was so pale but it never occurred to me if he had a heart beat. "Maybe everyone's touch doesn't appeal to you, but in the depth of your hidden thoughts, don't you think about it?" As if a curtain had suddenly been removed, Mukuro's hands changed to a healthy fair colour. His fingers were equipped with multiple rings and I would recognize those any day, anywhere.

"Hayato?" I tried turning but his body wouldn't allow me. All I could do was rotate my head to try and see if what I had seen was real. I was suddenly breathless. It was real. It was so real. It was there in flesh and blood. I tried to say something and only ended up shutting my mouth again. I knew it was an illusion but its effect was so tremendously powerful. I turned back to the wall again, closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against it. _It's only an illusion. It's only an illusion._But when my eyes reopened, he was still there. I decided to keep my eyes shut for the while.

A squeak involuntarily escaped me as his teeth nipped my ear. "Don't you dar-" I gasped as his lips started trailing down my neck.

"It's fine, as long as it's my touch, correct?"

It was Hayato's voice … No, it was exactly like Hayato's voice. It was Mukuro. I had to remember it was Mukuro.

"Get OFF!" I rammed my back into him and it worked. He stumbled backwards and in my hurry to escape I moved a bit too and then our feet bumped and then our legs got tangled and we were both down. My injured shoulder hit the ground first and unconsciously a cry left me. Things don't heal miraculously overnight, do they? I guess I forgot that because my shoulder hadn't hurt since I woke up. I instantly scrambled away when I felt Mukuro stirring. That no good piece of shit.

A large hand was suddenly clamped around my ankle and I skidded over the tiled kitchen floor as Mukuro pulled me back. I tried to get a grip on any of the tiles, I tried digging my nails into some crack but I was probably slipping on grease because things were going too easily for him. When I felt him getting on my back again I elbowed him hard and – to my horror and pleasant surprise- my elbow went straight to his forehead and then buried in his eye. I only scooted a little farther when his large hand landed hard on the back of my head and unexpectedly, he slammed my head to the ground. The pain came a second too late and I took in uneven breaths.

It felt like I was fighting for my life.

Which I probably was.

It took me too late to recover because Mukuro's hands were on my waist and he pinned me down. My squirming became useless and I was only kicking the floor and air with all my might. I banged the floor and started cursing. My head was able to get visual on him just as he began closing down. I could only see his hair when he nuzzled my neck. On the brick of confusion I could only mutter … "W-Wha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" His teeth dug in deeper and I could feel that he was applying more force. On my stomach as he sat on my spine, I could do nothing but scream and thrash as he abused my neck. Was he trying to bite through a vessel? I'd die!

He wasn't stopping. It's like he was planning on cutting out a chunk from the side of my neck. His tongue was warm. I didn't expect the inside of his mouth to be warm but it was no comfort. With my hand at an odd angle I managed to grab a fistful of his hair and he stopped.

He didn't stop because I grabbed him. He didn't stop because I stopped thrashing. He stopped because . . . uh, I noticed it too late.

Sneakers. I could see sneakers in front of me. Not any random sneaker shoes, cow print ones. Lambo's shoes. I traced my eyes up his figure and he wasn't alone.

"I'll call Hayato-ni-san!" I-pin announced as she ran away and Lambo glared down, not at me, at Mukuro.

**Close**

**I'm going to upload all the previously existing chapters -and the new one I typed before I found out that the story was in a grave- and then see if I get a flutter going in my heart. **


End file.
